Young Justice: Insurrection
by Project Deathstar
Summary: Two years after the Reach Invasion, numerous things happen at once. A vigilante makes a name for himself and starts a bloody campaign against all crime. A girl with extraordinary abilities crosses paths with the Team. And another dark future is ahead, where a dead man wanders the wasteland to change fate once more. Can the members of the Team and the Justice League persevere?
1. Call for Justice

_August 20 2018, Gotham City 11:19 PM_

Two years of wearing the Tigress costume, and Artemis still found it unnatural.

As she jumped the rooftops of the lower east side of Gotham, she smirked as she thought about what would happen if she ran into Catwoman. Hopefully she wouldn't think that Artemis was stealing her thunder.

Not that she could get any thunder to begin with.

Tigress just could not get a name for herself. Nobody knew her, she no longer had the luxury of being recognized as Green Arrow's sidekick. It also didn't help that every city across the United States had more and more heroes popping up every day. Gotham alone had at least five or six, most of them working with Batman. Nightwing relocated to Bludhaven as part of his hiatus from the team, Robin was just as likely to be seen doing some work on his own in addition to swinging around with the Dark Knight, and Batgirl…

Artemis found herself tripping as she landed on the next roof, barely catching herself before landing face first.

She was in Metropolis when she heard what happened to Barbara. How she was crippled by the Joker with a bullet through the spine, how he stripped her broken, bleeding body and took pictures of it, how he tortured her father…

She shuddered. Once Artemis thought her father was the worst there could be, and boy how wrong she was. She couldn't decide which act was more monstrous- what happened to Barbara, or what happened to Jason…

"You ok?"

She turned to the voice behind her. Robin was perched on the side of the building.

"Yeah," Tigress confirmed. "Just distracted for a few seconds."

Tim Drake. Technically the Robins weren't supposed to reveal their identities to the Team, yet most members found them out anyway through one way or another. Artemis had to regrettably admit, she didn't really know Tim that well. Dick was the social butterfly, ready to be friends with anyone and everyone. Jason had a temper that could rival Conner's early months and a crude sense of humor. Tim was quiet, reserved. The one out of the three most like his mentor. A nice guy definitely, but more likely to hang around Nightwing and other Team members closer to his age, or by himself. Tigress never really interacted with him that much.

Now's a good time to change that.

"Another night out of the nest?" Tigress teased.

"Kaldur told me you would be tracking that shipment of the Reach soft drink here," Robin replied as he stood up and walked towards her.

 _Yep, definitely Batman Jr._ the heroine thought. _Straight to business._

"Well I did manage to track Luthor's goons to that warehouse at Gotham Harbor," she explained, pointing to a rather depilated looking building. "From the bug I placed on one, I heard they're supposed to be meeting men belonging to a Gotham crime boss, but they didn't specify who."

Robin turned on his holographic computer, standard issue to all of Batman's protégés.

"Traditional crime bosses have sort of gone out of style around here," Robin said as he typed. "The Falcones and Maronis hightailed out of here when the supervillains began surfacing. The only ones I can think of that still act like traditional mob bosses are…"

An image of a blond man with half of his face burned horribly with a suit to match appeared. Tigress felt the slight urge to gag.

"Two-Face, aka Harvey Dent,"

Next, the image of a stout man in a tuxedo with an umbrella, a pointed nose and a monocle showed up.

"Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot,"

Finally, Robin brought up one more image of a man dressed in a white suit with a black skull mask covering his entire head.

"And Black Mask, aka Roman Sionis," Robin finished. "Considering I just put Two-Face back in Arkham and Penguin's been in Blackgate, I'm gonna have to say the people you're tracking are meeting with Black Mask's men."

"Will he be there himself?" Tigress asked.

Robin pulled out his grapple gun and fired it at the next building.

"Let's find out."

Robin grappled and swung from building to building with Tigress following. They dropped down in front of the warehouse, knocking out a couple of guards before entering the complex. Sticking to the shadows, the two young heroes made their way through and atop crates to find a large group in the very center where the only source of light was.

As Tigress snuck up next to Robin, she realized she recognized one of the men.

"Sportsmaster," she whispered.

Robin turned to look at her. "Your father?"

Tigress nodded. "I guess he's working for Black Mask now."

They stopped talking as they listened to the proceedings below.

"You can understand my employer's hesitance to buy your product," Sportsmaster said, pacing around while inspecting a re-labeled Reach drink. "If word got out on what this really was, the entire Justice League would be up his ass in a heartbeat."

"Mr. Luthor said he had some ideas on how to distract the individual members of the League," one of Luthor's minions said. "Plus we were thinking you guys could retool that as maybe an injection or something. Without the bottle, it's just a street drug no one would get suspicious about."

Sportsmaster's expression was unreadable through his hockey mask, but Tigress could tell it was that of immense annoyance.

"Batman will be suspicious," he pointed out. "This is his turf and he's paranoid beyond reason. He'll catch on rather quickly if he decides to investigate…"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about the Batman if I were you."

Everyone turned to the right northeast corner, with Robin and Tigress edging a little closer to see beyond the crates. From atop the pile ahead, a new figure walked out from the darkness. It was a man in a grey body suit and a dark leather jacket, his head encased in a bright red helmet with two white eyes that looked like were in an endless glare. Resting in his right hand was what appeared to be a modified Ak-47.

"Especially since I'm the one with the assault rifle intending to kill every-"

He pulled the slide.

"Last-"

He aimed.

"One of you."

He opened fire.

Both Black Mask's and Luthor's men began dropping like flies, with Sportsmaster flipping backwards away from the hail fire and onto the crates. He drew a javelin and ran towards the machine gun armed vigilante while what remained of the goons drew guns of their own and began to fire back.

Robin and Tigress took this as their cue to join in.

"You go after Sportsmaster and take care of any goons that get in your way," Robin said. "I'll go after the biker guy."

Tigress nodded in agreement. She jumped to the ground, several of the henchmen noticing as she did so and turning in accordance to fire. She promptly responded by disarming the closest ones and laying the beat down to anyone approaching her.

Robin, meanwhile jumped from crate to crate until he reached the one the gunman was atop of, kicking him down in the process. The helmeted man landed on the floor behind the crates and scrambled to his gun, when an electrified birdarang hit the weapon and destroyed it, sending the man flying back.

When Robin jumped down after him, the man merely chuckled as he got back up.

"I was wondering when I'd run into you," he said. "I wanted to meet you sometime while I was in Gotham. You or the Bat."

"Who are you?" Robin asked.

The man popped his neck. "Let's just say I've been away for a while on a… journey of self-discovery. Now I'm back, refreshed and rebranded. Call me Red Hood."

Red Hood. That name seemed familiar to Tim…

Suddenly, Red Hood drew a knife. "Do me a favor and don't disappoint me."

Robin smirked and drew his electric bo staff. "I don't intend to."

Red Hood charged at the Boy Wonder and slashed at him with the knife several times, all of which Robin deflected with his staff. The boy activated the electric current in his staff and swung towards the Red Hood's left side, hoping he wouldn't get the knife around in time to block. Red Hood merely surprised Robin by catching the staff without suffering so much as a sting.

"Insulated gloves," Red Hood commented.

He then proceeded to jam the opposite side of the staff into Robin's stomach, yank the rest of the staff from his hands and then hit him again with more force, sending the Boy Wonder into a crate.

"Come _on_ ," Red Hood complained. "I heard you could actually hold your own without Batman having to save your ass. Or maybe he just needs someone to draw the fire with all that red."

Red Hood chucked away the staff. "Course I'm one to talk."

Ribs aching, Robin stood back up. He then threw a couple of smoke pellets to the ground, disappearing once it cleared.

"Oh no," Red Hood said sarcastically. "He's gone. I hope he doesn't do a drop kick from behind me…"

Just when Robin was about to do just that, Red Hood proceeded to grab his leg and spin him around, once again launching him into some crates.

The Boy Wonder coughed and groaned as his foe walked towards him and kneeled in front of him.

"So why'd the old man pick you?" he asked. "You obviously did something to impress him. I wonder-"

A growl from behind stopped Red Hood's musings, leading him to turn and grab the javelin flying towards him.

"Whoa Casey Jones," Red Hood quipped.

Sportsmaster merely pulled out a hunting knife as he jumped down and slashed at the dodging Hood. He then flipped the knife around in a reverse grip.

"Let's see if your blood's as red as that helmet," Sportsmaster growled.

Red Hood responded by pulling a pistol.

"I'll show you mine if you show yours," he retorted.

Both men however were disarmed by three shurikens. In a flash, Sportsmaster found himself side rushed by Tigress. As those two fought, Robin took this opportunity to throw a bolas around Red Hood's entire lower body, knocking him to the ground struggling.

Slowly, painfully, the Boy Wonder stood. His ribs were still screaming, but he was willing to ignore that to help Artemis. Ignoring the agony, Robin picked up his staff, recharged it and rushed Sportsmaster from behind. As Robin landed an electrifying blow to the mercenary, Tigress took that opportunity to deliver a round house kick to the face, knocking off his mask and sending him staggering.

Spitting out a glob of blood, Sportsmaster laughed.

"You sure know how to pick your boyfriends baby girl," he said. "And here I thought you were still hung up on that joke Kid Flash."

As soon as Wally's code name was mentioned in that disparaging tone, Tigress growled and unsheathed the sword on her back, sprinting towards her father with a savage ferocity that made Robin realize this was a real intent to kill.

"Tigress!" he shouted.

But before Tigress could land a blow, Sportsmaster threw his own smoke pellets, leaving her nothing to cleave but a cloud of leftover smoke.

Breathing heavily, Tigress' eyes widened as she realized what she was about to do.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "Tim, I could've-I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok," Robin assured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We all lose control sometimes."

Tigress stopped panting momentarily to flash Robin a smirk. "Careful. Don't want Cassie to hear what my dad said and get the wrong idea."

Robin quickly removed his hand and blushed slightly.

"Uh… right, heh heh," Robin chuckled nervously. "At least we caught that Red Hood guy though. Maybe we can question him to see if he knows…"

But when he looked over to where the Red Hood was supposed to be tied up, nothing was there except for the severed bolas and a sticky note. Robin walked over and picked up the sticky note, reading the scribble out loud.

" _Give Bats and Nightwing my regards ;)_ "

"Does he know Batman personally?" Tigress asked.

Robin stared blankly at the note.

"Maybe," he replied. "I intend on figuring that out."

Robin smiled as he turned to Tigress. "You know, I don't think you've seen the Batcave yet."

* * *

 _August 21 2018, Bludhaven_ _6:30 AM_

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Thirty minutes of sleep.

Dick intended on getting at least three hours after the long patrol of the previous night, but the aches and bruises wouldn't let him. Not just the physical kind, but the emotional kind as well, brought upon by knowing what the next day would be.

Sitting up on the side of the bed, Dick turned off the alarm clock and rubbed his eyes. While doing so, he noticed his Nightwing uniform on the floor in front of his feet. As he picked it up and stood up from the bed, he walked toward his closet with the intent of putting the costume back in its secret compartment. On the way, he lingered in front of his calendar.

Four years exactly. Four years to the day he lost a brother. Four years since all of them, Bruce, Barbara, Alfred and himself suffered a death in the family.

Memories of that night in Ethiopia flashed before Dick's eyes. Memories of the Bioship being shot down by Harley Quinn, memories of him and Barbara frantically commandeering a jeep to catch up with Bruce while M'gann flew behind them, memories of the warehouse exploding…

Memories of Batman cradling Robin's broken body amidst the smoking rubble.

Jason Todd. The second Robin.

Who could possibly have known that the eleven year old boy Batman and Robin caught stealing tires from the Batmobile would meet such a brutal end. He remembered how M'gann had tears gushing down her cheeks in group sessions with Black Canary. She related how each time she tried to call out to him, there were bouts of excruciating pain that she felt herself and just when it seemed like a clear image could be seen, the Joker lowered the crowbar again and again until M'gann just lost the connection.

Tears of his own started rushing to Dick's eyes. Rubbing them away, he continued to put up his costume and then grabbed his cell phone off the dresser. He dialed a number and waited for a response.

"Hey Amy, it's Dick. I'm taking a personal day, is that alright?"

He chuckled. "I'm sure Redhorne will be happy with one day of me not being there. …Okay, I'll take up an extra shift when I get back, I'm going back to Gotham to visit Bruce. …Okay, see you."

He hung up the phone and put on a pair of jeans and a white v-neck before going to the kitchen to start fixing coffee.

As he poured a cup and sat in his recliner, he put the cup on the coffee table and picked up a picture frame. He gave a sad smile; it was a picture of him, Barbara and Jason taken by Artemis on the boy's first day of school. He then remembered that it was just a day later when Jason went out with Bruce on his first patrol as Robin…

 _He made a new Robin costume himself and gave it to Jason personally. He had a talk beforehand with Bruce about which direction he wanted his crime fighting life to go, and to his surprise, Bruce ended up being very supportive. So it was that night that Dick was down in the cave drawing potential designs for a new identity when Bruce came around from the corner in the Batsuit minus the cowl._

" _Jason," he called. "The Riddler left another riddle at the Gotham Zoo and I'd like to get there before CSI does. Maybe we can get a hint as to whether he has hostages or is planning a robbery."_

 _Dick chuckled. "Must be looking at himself in the mirror."_

" _Riddler or Jason?"_

 _Dick chuckled again. "Both probably since Riddler is hopelessly narcissistic, but I was mostly talking about Jason. It is his first night in the costume after all."_

" _Yes," Alfred contributed as he entered the cave. "Master Dick did the same when he first put on the costume as well. I had to bribe him with the promise of hot cocoa when you two returned for him to hurry up."_

 _Bruce smiled. "You might have to bribe Jason too."_

" _No need."_

 _Jason jumped down from a cave outcropping, sporting the modified Robin suit. The color scheme was more or less the same, but the sleeves were long as opposed to short, and the cape was also slightly longer and had a yellow clasp around the collar. He kept his bangs parted as opposed to Dick having kept his messy, and his mask made his face look more pointed. People would notice that this was a different Robin if they paid close enough attention but Dick planned on staying out of the limelight for a while and hoped that would be enough for people to not make a connection. After all, people would find it odd that soon after Bruce Wayne took in another ward a third boy started prowling the rooftops in the occasional company of the Dynamic Duo._

" _Robin the Boy Wonder, ready for action!" Jason said excitedly. "Riddler's got nothing on me, when I get to him he's gonna get his a-"_

" _Language, Master Jason," Alfred cut off._

"… _Butt handed to him," Jason finished. "Kinda lessens the impact when replacing the words."_

" _Robin doesn't curse," Dick said as he scribbled out a design he didn't like and flipped the page in his sketchbook._

 _Jason smirked. "What do you expect me to say then? 'Holy Plushy Pandas Batman', or "Gee Golly Gosh Diddly'?"_

 _Dick laughed. "No, you can still banter. That's kind of required. But keep it PG, or at least TVPG."_

" _Ass is just another word for donkey."_

" _Master Jason!"_

"… _And PG if used in that context."_

 _Bruce chuckled. Once he put up the cowl however, Batman woke in his stead. "Remember, stay within my line of sight the whole time. Don't run off, stay above the men with the guns, and don't engage the Riddler unless I give the ok."_

 _Robin followed Batman to the Batmobile. "Do you usually get your guys in one night?"_

" _Riddler's become more predictable lately," Batman said. "I expect to deliver him back to Arkham before midnight."_

 _Dick smiled as the two got into the car and drove out of the cave. Feeling he was getting nowhere in his designs, he instead opted to follow Alfred back upstairs to call Barbara._

A jingle could be heard from Dick's computer. Speak of the devil.

Dick went over to the computer and turned on the video chat before sitting. A video image of Barbara in a hospital bed took up the screen.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Dick replied, sad smile still on his face.

Another casualty of the Joker's rampage. As if murdering Jason wasn't enough, he had to subject Barbara and her father to this nightmare as well. Dick wasn't there when it happened and it's been eating at him for the past two months. If he was in Gotham, he could have stopped this from happening. Barbara would still be able to fight as Batgirl. Jim wouldn't have been humiliated and only barely escape with his sanity intact. And Bruce…

Dick heard from Montoya that this was the closest Batman ever came to killing the Joker. When the police arrived at the derelict amusement park, they found both Joker and Batman laughing maniacally. And right when the police rushed to take Joker to custody, that's when Batman stopped laughing and started to strangle him. Bullock had to be the one to pull him off and get him to calm while the Joker was carted off still laughing.

Maybe Bullock should have just let Bruce kill him.

"Hanging in there?" Dick asked.

"Well, I discovered the wonders of Netflix," Barbara joked. "And to gain back the brain cells I lost binge watching _Breaking Bad_ , I also began honing my computer skills by making undetectable software programs I'm sure Bruce and Tim would find useful."

Dick chuckled. "Just like you to always keep yourself busy Babs."

Barbara shrugged. "I guess I didn't lose my workaholic tendencies with my ability to walk."

"I'm sure we can have Wayne Enterprises develop something to-"

"Bruce said the same thing," Barbara cut off. "The doctors disagree. They say that even with today's medicine the bullet caused too much damage to the spine for physical therapy to be an option, and any attempt at surgery would only make things worse."

"What about cybernetics?" Dick listed. "Serums, anything?"

"Nothing that has been tested," Barbara said.

Dick's eyes lowered. Barbara placed her hand on the screen.

"Dick, I've already come to terms with this. If something comes along, then something comes along, but until then I'm going to make the best of this."

Dick sighed. "You're right, there's plenty you can still do both for Bruce and the Team besides field work. It's just…"

Dick placed his hand on the screen as well, right where Barbara had hers.

"I hate feeling so helpless," Dick said. "Ever since Jason I've been more and more worried about losing people I care about. Now that Wally's gone I…I couldn't bear losing anyone else. Especially you."

Barbara gave a small smile. "We can get through this. I know we can."

Her smile faded. "Speaking of Jason, you know what today is right?"

"Yeah."

Dick lowered his hand from the screen. "I'm coming back to Gotham for a visit. I'll stop by the graveyard first and then I'll come visit you."

"Ok. How long will you be in town?"

Dick's thoughts turned to the costume he had just hidden away.

"Not more than the day," he said. "But I might bring my favorite suit just to be safe. That is, if Bruce doesn't tell me to bring it first."

* * *

Artemis had trouble taking her attention from the giant T-Rex model.

"You know, I was expecting the Batcave to be a little more barren," she commented.

Tim, his domino mask and costume top removed, was typing away at the Batcomputer, wincing occasionally at the pain still apparent in his bandaged wrapped abdominal area. "Bruce can be bad as Gar when it comes to collecting things."

 _And Wally before him_ , Artemis thought sadly.

Artemis walked around and examined more of the trophies, from the giant penny to the large ten pins, to even what looked like one of the swords used by Deathstroke.

What her eyes ended up resting on though, was a cylindrical display case. Inside of it was a Robin costume that she recognized as Jason's. She only heard second hand accounts of his death from M'gann, how the explosion left the costume tattered. It must have been re-tailored because the suit looked like it was never used, covering a clear dummy with the effect of the mask looking like it was floating above the suit. Right below was an epitaph on a gold plate:

 _A Good Soldier_

Tim looked over from the Batcomputer. "Dick, Barbara and Alfred really cared about him. Bruce too even if he doesn't show it. I never met him. What was he like?"

Artemis smiled and walked back towards the computer. "Honestly? Your exact opposite. Outspoken, temperamental, crude. I remember one time when he tried to sneak into a slumber party for most of the girls on the Team, and even got away with Zatanna's leggings. Another time, he broke the TV at Mt. Justice when he saw Lex Luthor getting off a crime scot-free."

Artemis sighed. "But he was still a good friend and a good teammate. When he followed orders at least. I could relate to him because he knew what it was like to grow up on the streets, in a harsh environment. Maybe if he was able to get help at an earlier age, he wouldn't have been so angry."

Tim glanced down. He then turned back to the Batcomputer and continued typing.

"Ok, so I searched the computer's database and dozens of matches came up for 'Red Hood'."

The screen was filled up with several pictures of different iterations of the Red Hood over Gotham's history.

"According to Batman's notes," Tim said as he typed. "The Red Hood gang normally picked up some poor sap and had them wear the costume so they had someone to pin their crimes on. Judging that our current Hood managed to kill several of Black Mask and Luthor's men _and_ steal the shipment of the Reach drink all by himself, I'd say this isn't the case for him."

"Who was the last Red Hood?" Artemis asked. "That might give us a clue about the new one."

"Let's see…"

Tim typed a little more and three pictures popped up; one of a Red Hood in a tuxedo, a cape and a red domed helmet; one of a newspaper clipping with the headline _Axis Chemicals Break In Foiled_ …

And one of the Joker.

"Now I remember," Tim snapped his fingers. "Bruce told me that when he went to stop the break-in at Axis during his first year as Batman, the Red Hood stumbled from the railing into a vat of chemicals. That's how the Joker was born."

Artemis felt uneasy looking at the clown, the villain who caused destruction and death every chance he got. The man who murdered one friend and crippled another. "You think he might know something about the new Hood?"

"Who knows," Tim sighed. "Even if he did, he's the one enemy Batman won't let me go anywhere near. He said from now on it was just him and the Joker."

"Sounds like he's being protective of you."

"Yeah, I guess," Tim said, slightly dejected.

" **Recognized: Batman, 02."**

Tim quickly typed and the pictures disappeared, turning the chair around to see his mentor coming up from the teleporter to behind him and Artemis.

"The word _reconnaissance_ doesn't mean much to you, does it?" Batman said dryly as he eyed Tim's bandages.

"We were just looking up something related to that mission," Tim said. "Someone came and interrupted the exchange Artemis and I were supposed to spy on."

Batman nodded. He didn't seem to pay Artemis much mind. Normally he wouldn't be very… how Dick would say, "turbed" to discover one of the members of the Bat Family bringing someone into the cave, but Tim had to guess since Batman and Green Arrow were the ones to introduce Artemis to the hero business in the first place, then he was okay with her knowing his identity.

"On the subject of missions, Aqualad wants you two to report back to the Watchtower for debriefing," Batman said.

Tim got out of the chair and put his domino mask back on, along with his tunic and cape. Artemis did the same with her own mask.

"On it," Robin said.

"Visit the sickbay too, your ribcage might need a second look over to make sure it's nothing serious."

Tim smiled. "Yes sir."

As the two young heroes teleported to the Watchtower, Batman sat down at the computer and pulled back up what Tim was looking at. Frowning, he placed a hand to the communicator in his ear and waited for the other end to pick up.

"Nightwing, you're still coming back today right?"

He turned the chair and stared at the encased Robin uniform, listening to what his first protégé was saying.

"When you're done, come straight to the cave," he continued. "Robin just went to the Watchtower and I need help investigating something."

Batman scrolled through the computer.

"It looks like someone's using the Red Hood identity again, and they might be an obstacle for the Team."

* * *

 _August 21 2018, Markovia 11:45 AM_

" _Superboy, can you hear me? I'm in position. Operation is a go."_

Conner nodded. _"Loud and clear. Blue Beatle?"_

" _Check, patrolling the surrounding area. Beast Boy?"_

Conner turned to his shoulder to see a small green canary winking at him.

" _He's with me,"_ Conner said telepathically. _"Both of us are ready to go."_

The Kryptonian clone fidgeted with the black and red tie of his civilian suit. Clark gave him a couple that he grew out of but Conner never liked wearing them, not even with the perks of M'gann practically drooling whenever he did. He preferred his simpler clothes, which is what he would normally wear for the more covert missions.

Granted, the Team's missions mostly _were_ covert, so he actually could wear his Superboy attire. But for cases like this, he preferred regular street clothes, not tuxes and suits.

He looked up at the Gothic cathedral looming over him, listened as the bells tolled to alert the guests that the wedding was starting.

"So Gar, crash any weddings before this one?" Conner asked the canary airily.

"No, but I saw that _Wedding Crashers_ movie," Gar chuckled.

Superboy raised an eyebrow. "Does Megan know you're watching inappropriate movies?"

"Aw come on, most kids my age have seen dozens of R rated movies by now!"

Gar the canary narrowed his eyes. "And you're one to talk, you're only eight years old."

Superboy gave an amused smirk. "Only technically."

His smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of worry. "Seriously though man, are you all right for this? It's ok if you're not, Queen Bee-"

"Is getting her just desserts," Gar cut off, suddenly serious. "She'll face justice and be locked away for good."

A man was guiding a flock of green peacocks towards the entrance to the church. Beast Boy hopped from Conner's shoulder and transformed to blend in.

"She won't hurt anyone anymore," he said quietly to himself.

As Beast Boy went in with the rest of the peacocks, Superboy mentally went over the plan to himself once more.

 _First, get Psimon out of the way by luring him away from Queen Bee's side and injecting him with one of Artemis' darts, then quietly shipping him to Stryker's Island._

 _Then, have M'gann impersonate Psimon and standby to watch over the wedding between King Markov and Queen Bee._

 _Then, when the priest asks if anyone has an objection, the king's son Brion will reveal the inhumane experiments Queen Bee extorted Markovian scientists to work on using Reach technology and also reveal that he himself was an unwilling test subject._

 _Finally, after forcing her into a corner, M'gann and Gar will reveal themselves and will take Queen Bee into custody on behalf of the Justice League and reveal the warrant signed by members of the UN._

Superboy heard the bells toll once more and sighed in anticipation.

"Straightforward enough," he muttered as he straightened his tie one more time, walking into the church.

* * *

Jaime was patrolling the parking lot, also sporting a suit but grey with a blue tie. He watched as crowds shuffled into the cathedral, many Markovian and Bialyan. Though he also recognized a few infamous paparazzi from back home that frequently made a habit of stalking members of the League. A couple of college aged girls eyed him with interest, causing him to turn uncomfortably.

" _Those Earth females seem to be attracted to you,"_ Jaime heard the Scarab say.

Jaime turned more so people wouldn't hear or see him talk back.

"I'm not really looking for romance right now," he replied.

" _Our agreement is inclusive of me being more 'helpful'. Notifying you of potential mates falls under those parameters."_

The mention of the word _mate_ made Jaime even more uncomfortable. "You can be helpful by letting me concentrate ese."

As Jaime continued to observe the area, the Scarab continued to mentally talk.

" _So this is the ritual humans call a wedding? How come no one has been eliminated yet? That's what happens in these pre-mating ceremonies, right?"_

Jaime sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have let Bart talk me into watching _Game of Thrones_."

It was then he spotted three people, two men and a woman, go behind some bushes. They weren't dressed for the wedding and looked around as if checking for tails.

Suspicion aroused, Jaime followed the trio discretely. Hiding behind a thick oak tree, the Blue Beetle listened in.

"Why are we just standing around?" a male voice complained.

"The boss told us to, end of story," the woman answered. "He said he had things covered but that we're to serve as backup in case any heroes show up."

"Who even is this Red Hood guy?" the other man asked. "And why does he care about some royal wedding?"

The woman chuckled. "Something tells me you'll see soon enough."

Jaime thought to himself. He was told to expect Bialyan soldiers or any of the Light's agents that somehow caught wind of their plan. These guys seem like a third party, but what did they intend on doing?

Jaime let his Blue Beetle armor envelop him and walked out from the tree to face the trio. Only one way to find out.

"Ok compadres," Blue Beetle said as he got into a fighting stance. "How about you make it easy for me and tell me where I can find this boss of yours."

The trio turned to face the hero. Each of them were clad in black and wore carved wooden masks to hide their appearances. The woman, whom Jaime assumed was the leader, wore a fox mask, the bulkier guy on the left had a shark mask and the smaller, gangly guy on the right had a mask modeled after a vulture. Or buzzard. Same thing right?

"Yeah, how about no," the fox woman offered.

Without any warning, the woman extended her arm and launched a wave of earth at Blue Beetle, who barely dodged it as he flew up into the air.

"Metas huh?" Jaime mused.

His cannon materialized around his arm. "And I thought I would miss out on the fun."

" _You can still set the cannon to the highest setting for an instant termi-"_

Blue Beetle glared and the Scarab sensed his irritation.

"… _Stun setting engaged."_

Jaime sighed and fired repeated blasts at the fox woman, who sent up numerous boulders in turn. The Beetle flied around dodging them with continued firing.

Suddenly, Jaime felt the wind pick up. He started to lose control of his flight pattern. He looked down to see that the man with the vulture mask was manipulating the wind to bring him back down.

With a crash into the dirt, the man succeeded.

Blue Beetle propped himself up, but something flashed at the corner of his eye. He rolled off to the side to dodge of what looked like a spear of water.

Jaime quickly jumped to his feet and once again faced the elemental trio. Each of them prepared their respective element while Blue Beetle charged up his cannons.

"What, no fire?" he called out. "Let me fix that!"

* * *

Superboy heard the commotion start as soon as Blue opened his mouth.

However, he kept his eyes on the altar, where the king and Queen Bee were exchanging vows. She looked stunning, in an extravagant gown with gold and black trimmings, her black hair tied up in a gold tiara to help expose the dark, smooth skin of her back; perfect to keep the attention of the crowd with a little help of pheromone manipulation.

Fortunately M'gann provided a mental shield to protect the pheromones of both the three males of the squad and of Brion, who was currently standing with the other groomsmen. He shared many traits with his father; chestnut brown hair, a chiseled chin, blue eyes. Brion however, had the obvious advantage of youthful fitness and looked determined as opposed to his father's current plumpness and state of euphoric trance. The prince had an inhibitor collar in a hand behind his back, planning to attach it around Queen Bee's neck once given the signal.

M'gann was lurking in the shadows through a cracked open door off to the side, still disguised as Psimon.

Beast Boy was with the rest of the peacocks, looking ready for action.

The plan was proceeding well. At least, until Conner heard the fight break out.

" _Blue, what's going on?"_ Conner communicated telepathically.

" _Three metas showed up,"_ Blue Beetle grunted. Conner heard a crash that shook enough around the building for the guests to momentarily look towards the doors in concern. Queen Bee flashed a dark look as the priest droned on, as if she suspected something. However, her influence over the audience was strong enough to draw their attention back, so she in turn turned back to the priest, dark look still with her.

" _I think someone else is here,"_ Blue Beetle communicated. _"I think Queen Bee might be in danger. The lethal kind."_

Conner glared. _"We need her alive. We can't have an assassination happen now. Is it just those three?"_

" _They mentioned something about a boss having things covered. Red Hood, they called him."_

Conner stood up and discreetly made his way to the oak doors. _"I'll use my thermal vision to scan the buildings across the street-"_

But Conner never got the chance. A new sound caught his attention from far in front of him. The sound of a trigger being pulled.

 _Bam!_

 _Crash!_

The shattering of stained glass and the sound of a bullet piercing skin filled the air. Conner whipped his head around to see Queen Bee crumple to the ground, blood gushing from the back of her head. The crowd, now released from the trance, started the inevitable mass panic. People screamed and ran around to get away from the danger, while Conner searched around for his comrades. Brion was watching in shock as his father cradled Queen Bee's corpse, Beast Boy transformed back to his normal form jaw dropped and silent, and right then Conner heard M'gann's voice in his mind.

" _Superboy, what happened?"_

Conner rushed out the doors and immediately started scanning the buildings before him.

" _Someone killed Queen Bee,"_ Conner thought.

" _I can see that! Is the assassin still out there?"_

" _Trying to find that out…"_

Conner stopped at a derelict apartment building, where he could see a man running down the stairs from a floor just above the stained glass window across from it.

" _Perpetrator spotted, I'm in pursuit!"_ Conner thought as he ran off to the building.

Superboy ran along the sidewalk as he kept his thermal vision on the sniper. He stopped at an alleyway where the killer jumped from a window, bounced off the fire escape, and landed directly in front of the Kryptonian clone.

"Red Hood, I take it?" Conner said.

He couldn't tell the man's expression beneath the scarlet helmet, but he had to guess a deadpan look judging from the response.

"What gave it away?"

Superboy swung a fist, but Red Hood only barely dodged it. The latter then flipped back, shooting at the clone repeatedly with two pistols. The bullets merely bounced off Superboy's chest.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Conner smirked.

"No," Red Hood admitted as he dropped empty magazines and placed in new ones. "That is though."

Superboy whipped around to see a chunk of concrete heading his way. He jumped out of the way, but more and more slabs were being thrown at him by a woman with a fox mask. Conner eventually ran out of luck and was hit, thrown back into the brick wall at the end of the alley.

Unfazed yet irritated, he looked past Red Hood to see the fox masked woman now fighting M'gann, Blue Beetle firing sonic waves at a man with a Vulture mask and Beast Boy transforming into a giant squid to combat a man with a shark mask (who was currently shooting a stream of water at the former).

"Wrap it up boys and girl, we're done here!" Red Hood called out to his comrades.

The masked trio ceased their attacks and quickly made their way to their boss. Red Hood reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a device that Conner recognized as a Father Box. He pressed a few buttons on it and a boom tube opened up behind him. Gar transformed into a cheetah and tried to catch the four, but they were gone through the portal, with it closing right as Beast Boy reached it. He flew through where the boom tube once was and slammed into Conner.

Both heroes groaned.

"You ok?" Conner asked.

Beast Boy transformed back into his human/monkey form. He had a dark look upon him.

"Not really," he muttered.

Conner mentally kicked himself. Gar was denied the closure he needed. The woman who killed his mother was killed herself before she could face trial. Of course he wasn't ok.

Gar got off of Conner, who proceeded to stand up. Blue Beetle and M'gann walked down the alleyway and joined the other two.

"That went well," Jaime said. "Now what?"

"That Red Hood didn't have a sniper rifle on him," M'gann noted. "Maybe he left it behind."

"The fourth story apartment in front of the church," Conner said. "Let's search it and find the rifle or anything else he might have left behind.

Beast Boy and Blue nodded, then went off to the apartment. M'gann stayed behind and accompanied Conner.

"Could you read his mind?" Conner asked.

"No, something was blocking it," M'gann confirmed. "I bet he has some anti-telepathy hardware in that helmet or something."

"No surprise there," Conner sighed. "What I'd like to know is where he got the Father Box."

"You think he's a spy for The Light?" M'gann asked. "That they thought Queen Bee was a loose end?"

"If they did, they would have killed her years ago."

As they walked around the corner, Conner cleared his throat.

"So it's been four years now, right? Since we lost Jason, that is."

M'gann averted her eyes.

"I know that's when this whole thing started," Conner continued. "You using your powers to… you know."

He scratched the back of his head. "I know you might still think that people like The Joker deserve a fate like that and, yeah, he deserves a special place in hell for everything he did. But people like him are still, well, people. And…"

He sighed. "All I'm saying is, if you need to talk… I'm here."

M'gann just silently went ahead of him and entered the building. Superboy followed until they both reached a busted down doorway on the fourth floor and entered.

The single room apartment was abandoned for quite some time. The pine green wallpaper was faded and peeling, the floorboards creaked with each step, pizza boxes and other snack wrappers littered the place…

Perfect place to snipe someone.

Blue Beetle was inspecting the sniper rifle left perched on the window sill while Beast Boy was inspecting the rest of the vicinity.

"A Walther WA 2000," Blue Beetle said as he studied the gun. "51 mm rounds, modified to shoot the bullet faster than The Flash. No fingerprints, no DNA sample, no explosives rigged. Safe to bag as a souvenir Gar."

Blue looked around. "Gar?"

"Look at this," Gar called.

He was in front of a laptop in a corner of the room. The rest of the squad crowded behind to look over his shoulder. The screen showed a YouTube profile on the Recent Uploads page. Gar clicked on the video displayed, and it began showing Red Hood in this very room, preparing the rifle.

"Citizens of the world," the video Red Hood began. "For years, we've put up with the increase in crime and depravity. We've allowed these super criminals to surface alongside the quote-unquote _heroes_ , and redefine the suffering the everyday scum inflicts on an innocent person."

He placed the gun on the window sill before turning his attention back to the camera.

"And what is your Justice League doing about it? Putting them in cardboard cutouts of prisons like Arkham and Belle Reeve so they can escape and give your so called _heroes_ something to do. Why should we, the people, put up with the whims of these self-appointed protectors? Why should we have to put up with madmen in war machines vaporizing our cities, serial killers hunting your children, human traffickers selling your wives and daughters and lovers into sexual slavery?"

Red Hood raised his fist. "No more! Starting today, we will take back what is ours from every last criminal on this planet. We show that we will not let supervillains, or rapists, or any other filth ruin our lives by taking theirs! Starting today, justice, _real justice,_ will be definitive and final! Starting today, tyrants will fall and the fat bureaucrats ruining democracy will be cut down to size!"

Red Hood lowered his fist.

"And to Vandal Savage and his secret society," he growled. "By the time next year rolls around, every last one of you will become a banquet for maggots. And that is a promise."

Red Hood put a hand behind the camera.

"I am the Red Hood," he said. "And I will be the one to deliver this world from evil."

He shut the camera off and the video ended right there. All of the young heroes in the room looked on with shock.

That wasn't a simple terrorist threat. That was a declaration of war.

 **A/N: Annnnnddd…. Done! Whew, hopefully that would have been as long as a full episode. And so Season 3 begins, with one main plotline on the roll. For those who might worry that this incarnation of Red Hood is a crazy zealot, don't worry. I intend to make his character as gray as possible. Also, since this show is known for having Loads and Loads of Characters, don't be surprised if some get more prominence than the others. But don't worry, I'll try to give many as much limelight as possible. Plus, I plan on introducing some characters from the comics and even reference events from there too. See if you can spot them ;)**

 **Review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Business

" _ **Recognize: Nightwing, B01**_

 _ **Recognize: Robin, B13."**_

 _Dick smiled as he watched Jason light up at the sight of Mt. Justice's interior._

" _Wow," he said excitedly. "This place is huge."_

" _This area barely scratches the surface," Dick said._

 _Jason turned back around to face his brother. To hide his identity, he wore a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a Pink Floyd t-shirt and aviator sunglasses along with worn jeans to complete the look. Dick just wore the same clothes and sunglasses he wore when he himself was Robin._

 _So he couldn't help but chuckle._

" _What're you laughing at?" Jason asked with a raised brow._

" _Nothing, Marty McFly."_

 _Jason smirked. "Pink Floyd was popular in the 70's, Back to the Future's 80's. Know your pop culture history man."_

" _Well, it looks good on you anyway," Dick said as he clasped a hand on Jason's shoulder. "I'm sure the girls on the Team would like it."_

 _Jason pushed the hand away while blushing slightly. "Shut up."_

 _He looked around once more. "Where is everyone anyway?"_

 _Dick checked his watch. "Conner, Gar and Megan should be done with school by now, same with Wally. Artemis, my friend from school you met, said she was already here. Meanwhile, Raquel said she had to patrol with Icon this evening, Kaldur's on his way and Zatanna…"_

" _That babe with the fishnets you're dating?" Jason asked._

 _Dick cleared his throat. "More or less."_

" _Did she let you touch her-"_

" _Artemis!" Dick called out. "Nightwing and Robin here!"_

" _Coming!" Artemis called out._

 _Artemis came from the direction of the garage, still garbed in her street clothes._

" _Hey Ro-I mean, Nightwing," she greeted. "Sorry, still a little getting used to. You're the new Robin, right?"_

" _Yup," Jason said proudly._

" _I'm Artemis," she greeted. "That's both my codename and my secret identity."_

" _Subtle," Jason said._

 _Dick gently elbowed his brother._

" _No, I mean it," Jason assured truthfully. "The bad guys wouldn't expect that. Plus archery, goddess of the hunt, I like it. It's empowering."_

" _Thanks," Artemis smiled._

 _Jason gave a smooth smile. "You know, I've been wanting to learn to shoot a bow for a while now. How 'bout you and I have some alone time to teach me… along with partaking in other 'activities'"._

 _Artemis smirked and ruffled the boy's hair. "Nice try kid, but I'm taken."_

 _Dick smirked as Jason grumbled, "Always the good ones."_

" _Well we still have some time to kill before the others get here," Artemis observed. "You guys wanna play Smash Bros?"_

" _I call Meta Knight!" Jason exclaimed as he rushed to one of the tunnels._

" _Wait, Robin!" Dick called out. "That leads to Red Tornado's room!"_

* * *

 _August 21, 2018, Gotham Cemetery 12:13 PM_

Dick lost track of how long he stared at the headstone. The epitaph froze him in place, like a haunting spell or a siren's call. So many memories clouded his mind, of both better and worse times, all of the little brother who was six feet below him.

 **Here Lies**

 **Jason Peter Todd**

 **August 16, 1999- August 21, 2014**

 **Beloved Son, Brother and Friend**

"Hey there Jay," Dick started. "Still on hiatus from the Team. Looking pretty good though last time I saw all of them."

Dick shuffled his feet a bit and tugged at the short sleeve of his button up shirt.

"Bludhaven's much worse than I initially thought. If you thought the GCPD was corrupt, The BPD blows them out of the water. I can feel the aster."

Normally Jason would've groaned at his shortened words, but he would get no reaction from the grave.

"Tim's really come a long way as Robin. I think you would have liked him. The third Bird Brother. Of course though, you'd have a more questionable influence on him if you were still here."

Dick gave a soft laugh, but the smile that accompanied it disappeared almost immediately. "It's hard though. He's on his way to becoming his own man like you were. I'm worried because I can't always be there to protect him. I don't want to lose another brother, and Bruce doesn't want to lose another kid."

Dick could almost imagine the anger swelling up bellow the grave at the mention of their mentor and father. "I know you still had a lot of things to sort out with him, and I know he can be distant and cold sometimes. But he really did love you, like I did- no, still do. I know that he would tell you that if he could see you one last time-"

He was cut off by the communicator in his ear.

" _Nightwing, you're still coming back today, right?"_

Dick put two fingers to the communicator.

"Already am back. I'm at the graveyard now, then I was planning on visiting Babs."

" _When you're done, come straight to the cave. Robin just went to the Watchtower and I need help investigating something."_

"Just like old times then," Dick said as he departed from Jason's grave. "Alright, how can I help?"

" _It looks like someone's using the Red Hood identity again, and they might be an obstacle for the Team."_

Dick closed the gate behind him before walking over to his motorcycle and straddling it.

"Red Hood eh? Isn't that-?"

" _Joker's old identity, yes."_

Dick glared as he put on his blue helmet. "Have the case files ready. I'll be there in two hours exactly."

The motorcycle roared to life, with its driver riding off on the empty road.

* * *

 _August 21, 2018, The Watchtower 2:26 PM_

"So that was your report," Aqualad confirmed.

Superboy, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, and Beast Boy nodded.

Aqualad turned to Robin and Tigress. "This matches up with their report of a man calling himself the Red Hood attacking Luthor's agents at the warehouse and absconding with the Reach soft drink."

All seven of them were sitting in a conference room typically used by members of the League. Now that they and the Team were operating side by side, the latter had access to these rooms along with many other aspects of the League such as data, training rooms, even the showers and cafeteria.

"So what do we make of this guy?" Superboy asked.

"Seems like a nutjob to me," Blue Beetle said. "His speech about 'delivering from evil' and all that stuff gives off a bad vibe."

"He openly declared himself an enemy of the Light," M'gann intervened. "Both by killing Queen Bee and challenging Savage."

"That doesn't make him our friend," Beast Boy pointed out. "He's still a murderer, no matter how he tries to justify it."

"We should keep an eye on him though," Tigress said. "He may be targeting criminals now, but he's already trying to pin us as enablers. Who's to say he won't group us into his sights as well?"

"Keeping an eye on him shouldn't be too hard," Robin said as he activated his holographic computer. "Every news station in the world is doing a special segment on the assassination right now."

It was true. Nearly every news outlet around the world was doing a report on the wedding assassination in Markovia and the Red Hood's resulting speech; GNN, BBC, the local stations, the major networks; even G. Gordon Godfrey, the firebrand against aliens and superheroes alike, was doing a segment about it.

"This is what I've been warning about people!" the TV host shouted from the holographic screen. "These vigilantes are all lunatics with a serious god complex and now one of them is finally acting on it. No doubt there will be thousands of hoodlums wrecking our streets in the name of this _Red Hood_ , and the Justice League will take this criticism to heart and take us bloody over in a fascist regime-"

Robin turned off the hologram. "Let's see what we can scrape from the evidence we found in Markovia. It may not be much, and no doubt he's covering his tracks the best he can, but it's a start."

Aqualad nodded. "I will leave you in charge of that then. Let me or Black Canary know if you find anything. Until then, this meeting is adjourned."

Everyone rose up to leave, except for one heroine, who stayed in her seat.

"Is something bothering you M'gann?" Kaldur asked.

M'gann shifted her eyes and rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "I was just wondering… Should we even really be looking for this guy? I mean, is what Red Hood doing even wrong?"

"His goals and intentions are admittedly noble," Kaldur said as he moved to a seat closer to his friend. "His means, I believe, are not."

"But Queen Bee, people like her and worse," M'gann said. "Don't people like that _deserve_ to experience the pain and death they inflict on others?"

She thought of Gar, and how he looked when he found his mother's wrecked car at the bottom of that waterfall, how he fell to his knees in devastation. She thought of Garth as he held Tula in his arms, how he cried out in agony. She thought of Jason, the glimpses of the torture he went through, his broken form softly cradled by a shaking Batman.

Kaldur sighed. "I don't think it is our place to decide that. The League and the Team try their best to respect the laws of this world and let them dictate how to handle wrongdoers. We try not to take the lives of others unless we have absolutely no other choice. It is definitely hard at times, but it's what separates us from those we fight."

"I guess," M'gann muttered.

Kaldur placed a reassuring hand on the Martian's shoulder. "If you ever want to talk more, just let me know."

 _A lot of people seem to want to talk,_ M'gann thought.

She stayed seated, lost in thought as Kaldur left the room.

* * *

"You two still aren't back together?!"

Superboy coughed awkwardly. "It's complicated, Artemis."

"I thought after two years you would have worked things out beyond just friends!" Artemis exclaimed in an irritated tone.

"I thought so too," Conner sighed.

"What exactly happened between you two anyway?" Artemis asked. "You never really made that clear."

Superboy looked out the window into space. "Don't tell me you haven't figured it out. After what happened while you and Kaldur were undercover, what M'gann did to his mind?"

Tigress averted her eyes. "I thought that was just a heat of the moment thing. She thought I was dead-"

"No, she's done stuff like that before," Conner cut off. "She'd use her powers to put criminals and invaders in catatonic states. I didn't agree. I told her it was wrong and she- she tried to erase the memory of the argument from my mind."

"She what?!" Artemis exclaimed. "This is M'gann we're talking about here-"

"She was never the same after Jason died, you know that," Conner interrupted once more. "Witnessing something as horrible as that, seeing what kind of monsters the world can breed. She always had a soft spot for him."

"We all did," Artemis pointed out. "He was the youngest of us besides Gar, the cocky little brother we got annoyed with but couldn't help and love."

Conner turned back towards his friend. "Still, he had a dark side as much as we'd like to deny it. _Especially_ as much as Dick would like to deny it. I feel like some of that rubbed off on M'gann."

"You can't base that around one incident-"

"It wasn't just one incident," Superboy said, then caught himself. "Sorry, I keep interrupting."

"No problem."

"Anyway, he was almost always impatient, disobedient and violent. _Especially_ towards enemies. That's where M'gann got it."

Artemis looked out the window herself. "Has she done any of that recently?"

"No," Conner said. "But I'm afraid that this Red Hood guy is going to give her ideas. And old habits die hard."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you don't trust her."

"I do trust her," he protested. "But one slipup can destroy two years of progress."

He really hoped she took up that offer to talk to him.

* * *

He loved it when she kicked a training bot clean in half.

Tim stood in the doorway of the mishmash terrain that made up the training room. Cassie Sandsmark, aka Wonder Girl, aka his girlfriend of two years, was currently kicking ass against a legion of training bots on the desert terrain while Blue was blasting at some from the air, Kid Flash was gathering some in a tornado of his making, Beast Boy was in the jungle currently using one as a club in his gorilla form, and the Team's very own Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, was having fun letting a power ring generated version of Optimus Prime plow through dozens of bots in the city landscape.

"I think this is my personal best," the Green Lantern said.

"What is?" Wonder Girl called out. "I wanna see if I can beat it."

The projection faded as Kyle checked his surroundings.

"Ninety-three. No, wait…"

He fired a green blast at a fifth story window, watching as the bot tumbled and crashed to the pavement below. "Ninety-four".

"How convenient," Wonder Girl grunted as she punted a bot. "I just counted 99 here."

Kyle shrugged. "Always next time, right?"

"That's my Cassie," Robin said as he fully entered the room. Cassie rushed over to him and grasped him in a crushing bear hug.

"Tim!" she said excitedly.

"Ow, ribs," Robin whimpered.

"Oh," Cassie apologetically loosened her grip around her boyfriend and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. "Sorry babe."

"Hey, I'm just happy to be here with you," Robin blushed.

"Get a room, por favor," Blue called out as he flew overhead.

"Hey Rob!" Bart greeted as he sped up to the couple. "What're you up to this crashin' afternoon?"

"Well, I know I need to start looking at the evidence left behind at the crime scenes-"

"Come on man," Bart chuckled as he placed his arms around the couple. "You work too much. We all need to just hang out one day. No missions, no villains, just fun."

"It _has_ been a while since we had some alone time," Cassie winked at Tim.

Before Tim could respond, Aqualad entered the training room.

"I need the five of you to go back to Markovia," he said.

"We just got back!" Beast Boy complained.

"This won't take very long," Kaldur reasoned. "But I think Prince Brion should be offered a position on the Team for his help with the assignment, despite it not turning out how we wished."

"Sweet," Bart said. "I hear Markovia's nice at this time of year."

"Couldn't we just email an invite?" Kyle asked, running a hand through his short cut dark hair.

"It would give a better impression if members of the Team asked him in person," Kaldur said. "Cassie, I'm putting you in charge."

"What?" Cassie asked in shock. "Is that really such a good idea?"

"It's a great idea," Tim encouraged. "I think everyone should have a chance to try the chains of leadership. Plus you'd be great at it."

"Yeah, you're a people person," Beast Boy said.

"Umm…" Cassie was definitely unsure. "What if I klutz up or something?"

"That's not gonna make him not join," Blue said. "If he says no, that won't have anything to do with you. Unless you insult his country or something, but there's no way you would do that, even unintentionally."

"Hey, I was nervous just like you when I first led a squad," Tim said. "It gets a lot easier with more practice. You can do this Cassie."

Cassie smiled. "Ok. Foreign negotiation is something I need to cross off my bucket list anyway."

"Excellent," Aqualad smiled. "Report to the main deck at 1700 hours and we'll zeta you five and Sphere to Markovia. Call when you get an answer and we'll zeta you back."

Robin kissed Wonder Girl on the cheek. "And I'll be in the lab. Movie later?"

Cassie smirked. "Blues Brothers. I'm gonna quote and sing along you know."

"Don't worry, me too," Tim said as he went out the door with Aqualad.

"You too really are cute together," Bart commented.

Blue just groaned and fired at one remaining bot.

* * *

The guy was a ghost.

Dick and Bruce spent all afternoon in the Batcave pouring through case files, searching through digital databases, and the former Dynamic Duo couldn't find anything that could link to the Red Hood. No former identity, no event to connect to his motivations, not even receipts for a cheeseburger at a diner or anything. Tim was sending them some samples of what he was slowly recovering from the evidence, but they weren't able to determine much other than most of the gun and bullets were custom, made from a personal gunsmith and that the YouTube profile used led to a dead email account. This guy was taking care to not leave a single trace.

So they moved on to good old interrogations.

Robin is pretty much the good cop while Batman is the bad cop. As Nightwing, that designation hasn't changed for Dick. Sure, he may look slightly more threatening now, but nothing can ever top a man sized silhouette of a demonic bat prowling through the dark. So he left the more terror inducing acts to his mentor, while he took a more friendly approach.

"Hey Holly, how's it been?" Nightwing asked a prostitute on the corner of a street. He cast a glance out of the corner of his eye across the street to see Batman dangling her pimp out of a four story apartment.

"Nightwing!" Holly Robinson said excitedly. "I haven't seen you in forever! Where you been off to honey?"

"Out of town for a bit," Nightwing conversed. "Stretching my wings."

"That's clearly not all you've been stretching," Holly commented as she eyed the hero all over.

Holly's been a prostitute since she was fourteen, since Dick was the first Robin. In fact, meeting her when he was ten was what led to him discovering what prostitution even was to begin with. He had hoped by now that the blonde had managed to make a better life for herself, but he also knew that she was a close friend of a certain cat themed prowler. So at least she had someone out there protecting her.

"So what kind of info do you need?" Holly asked as she pulled up a strap on her striped tank top. "You always ask so nicely, not like Bats over there."

A scream of pain filled the evening air.

"Was he treating you ok?" Nightwing asked, referring to the pimp.

Holly shrugged. "Yeah, but not the other girls so much. Julio's getting what's coming to him."

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"Anyway," Nightwing continued nonchalantly. "Can you tell me anything about the Red Hood?"

"That guy on the news?" Holly pondered. "Fraid not. You don't think he'd come after someone like me, would he?"

"No he wouldn't," Nightwing assured. "I'm sure even someone like him would know that you're not the bad guy."

"But he would kill guys like Julio?"

"I'm afraid so."

Holly shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't be much help."

"That's alright," Nightwing smiled. "It's always nice to catch up with you. Take care of yourself alright?"

"No problem," Holly winked. "I'm expecting a call back for a job with an escort service soon. I had an interview the other day…

She pulled a ringing phone out of her purse and answered, waving to Nightwing as she walked off.

"Hello? Yes, this is Holly Robinson. What? I got it? YES!"

Nightwing gave a glance across the street to see the pimp tied up to a street lamp, knocked out cold. He then grappled up to the top of the building behind him and ran up the wall, flipping onto the roof right in front of his old mentor.

"Nobody knows about him," Nightwing said.

"It's apparent we're not going to get answers anytime soon," Batman said gruffly. "I'm going to continue patrol. You're welcome to come if you want."

"Actually," Nightwing started. "I was hoping we could talk now."

"About what?"

"You know."

Batman looked away, expression unreadable.

"I don't think we ever actually talked about what happened and how we feel about it. We let each other grieve and move on, but that's about it. You wouldn't talk when you began to fight more recklessly, you wouldn't talk after you took on Tim, and you won't even talk now after four years. Can't we change that?"

Silence. Then…

"It was my fault," Batman said. "It was my fault Jason died."

Nightwing sighed in sadness. "Bruce, I've told you so many times that you're wrong. It wasn't your fault-"

"Yes, it was," Batman cut off with finality. "He's dead because I didn't save him in time. Because I failed him as a mentor and a father. Because I couldn't help him adapt to life off the streets and help him control his anger…"

Batman turned. "And because I keep letting that psychopath live. Now even Barbara suffers because of my mistakes."

"Bruce, "Nightwing said frustrated.

Before Nightwing could get the Dark Knight's attention once more, something else grabbed it. A sultry voice that Dick recognized all too well.

"You should listen to the kid more. You sulk way too much for my liking."

The duo looked around and rested their sights upon the top of a wooden water tower, where a woman in a skin tight leather suit with a hood shaped like a cat's ears was watching them. Intent, hazel eyes gazed at them from a smooth oval face that reflected confidence and a sexy demeanor.

"Hello Selina," Batman greeted.

Catwoman jumped down from the water tower and slowly walked towards her frequent pursuer.

"I've missed our little games of cat and mouse," the cat purred as she rubbed herself against the Dark Knight. She then poked one of the bat's abs. "I missed these even more."

Nightwing couldn't help but snicker at Batman's flustered reaction. Only two women he knew could make his mentor react that way; one was right there and the other was probably watching her father conspire to make him his heir.

"Anyway," she continued. "I have a tidbit of information that I thought you might like. Word on the street is that Black Mask is having his men stage a heist of a private shipment from the Gotham Docks, with Sportsmaster leading them."

"What's in the shipment?" Batman asked.

"I'm afraid that part's hush-hush," Catwoman purred. "But maybe after you're done, you can show up at my apartment with a nice bottle of Merlot. I know you can afford it rich boy."

"Yeah Bruce," Nightwing smirked. "You could use a nice night off. I can do the rest of the patrol while you have some fun."

Batman glared at his pupil while Selina kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not taking no for an answer."

As she brushed her fingers against Bruce's chin and walked off, Nightwing suddenly had a thought.

"Do you know anything about the Red Hood?"

"Only a rumor that he has agents everywhere," she called ominously before jumping to the next roof and running off.

* * *

 _August 22 2018, Nanda Parbat, 7:30 AM_

Vandal Savage watched as all of the screens lit up with the faces of his comrades from left to right; Ra's al Ghul, refined and commanding. Lex Luthor, serious and businesslike. The Brain, emotionless and calculated. Klarion, mischievous and powerful. And Black Manta, loyal and determined.

One equal was missing.

"My friends," Savage greeted. "We have lost one of our own, a victim of an unexpected assassination. I believe our first order of business should be to access this… Red Hood."

He typed on a keyboard in front of him and pulled up the video Red Hood uploaded, playing it before the other members at the corner of each screen.

Klarion cackled. "That loony's all talk. Just a mortal who's overstretching his reach in matters that don't concern him."

"I concur," the Brain agreed. "Though he was successful in eliminating Queen Bee, the rest of us are much more powerful and better protected."

"You are foolish if you dismiss a man simply because he is a _mortal_ ," Ra's objected. "The Detective and others of his like are proof of that. But that's beside the point. My shadows report that his reputation is growing by the moment, and he's already recruited many to his cause. Some of which include a small fraction of my former disciples who have grown… disillusioned with my leadership."

"Not to mention he has the Reach drink," Luthor added. "It's very likely he could reengineer it as a weapon against us."

"Spirit is a strength we tend to overlook," Black Manta said. "Especially if it can be inspired in other people like what the Red Hood is doing."

"The man remains elusive," Savage said. "We have no choice but to wait for him to make his next move, and then we can determine once and for all if he truly threatens our plans."

The remainder of the Light nodded their heads in agreement.

"Now onto the matter of filling our vacant seat. Who is worthy to join our brotherhood?"

The members of the Light paused in thought. Then, they started listing off suggestions.

"Gorilla Grodd and his advanced telepathic abilities could prove useful," the Brain said.

"I could construct a device that can release the Kryptonian general Zod from the Phantom Zone," Luthor offered. "Or see if I can contact Brainiac."

"I always liked the Joker…" Klarion said.

"NO!" every other member minus Luthor shouted.

"He is too unpredictable," Ra's argued sternly. "Plus his theatrics undermine our secrecy."

"Though wouldn't it be better to have someone as unhinged yet criminally genius on our side as opposed to incurring his wrath upon snubbing him?" Luthor reasoned. "After all, he did not react well when he found out the Injustice League was a sham."

"Any other of the Batman's rouges could serve as good candidates," Savage said. "Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Bane. _Never_ the clown."

"I thought Bane was just a Venom addicted brute," Klarion objected.

"Far from it. He managed to outmaneuver the Detective by organizing a mass breakout of Arkham and breaking his spine," Ra's defended.

"But the Bat recovered and defeated him," Luthor objected. "The only thing Bane got out of the experience was the Batman's identity, something _you_ won't share with us."

"I respect the Detective too much to simply hand out his secret-"

"Why don't I make things simple for you all and offer up _my_ candidacy."

Vandal Savage turned to see the Light's top enforcer enter the room and approach the council.

"Deathstroke," Savage greeted.

The half orange, half black mask with a single eyehole was admittedly intimidating, perfect for the man's reputation as the world's greatest mercenary. His large broadsword hung over his shoulder, ready for use along with the pistol he keeps at his side and the black body armor said to be nearly impenetrable. Boldly, the mercenary walked up right next to Savage and began addressing the rest of the council.

"I apologize if I seem too presumptuous, but I admit that it's always been my goal to join your ranks. I believe that with my strategic mind and my contacts throughout the world, I can serve the Light in a better way than I do now. I also wish to remind all of you that I was the one who managed to get Black Manta and the Brain out of that pit in the Middle East the Justice League so kindly dropped us in. It took nearly a year, true, but two vital members of the Light wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."

The Light paused in consideration of this.

"Deathstroke has proven to be a loyal ally in the past," Black Manta concurred. "I say he should join."

"We can't just hand out memberships like Halloween candy," Luthor objected. "I'm afraid Mr. Wilson needs to prove himself more."

"I agree," Ra's nodded. "Note that he got captured by the Martian girl and impersonated by her, leading to the capture of our two colleagues in the first place. If he can rectify that mistake, I'd gladly accept him as our brother."

"I propose a test then," Savage said, turning to Deathstroke. "Compounding on Ra's concerns. The team of… junior heroes has become a thorn in our side for far too long. If you can capture every last one of them, and bring them bound and unmasked to our feet, then you can take a seat among us."

Deathstroke nodded. "Consider it done."

As he walked out of the room, Savage moved to the next order of business.

"Now, to discuss the rather slow assistance from our powerful friend at Apokolips…"

The rest of the council paled in fear as Savage continued speaking.

* * *

August _21_ _st_ _, 2018. Markovia, 9:00 PM_

"Prince Brion is ready to see you now."

Everyone sighed in relief as the words they've been waiting _three hours_ to hear were finally spoken by one of the palace's maids. The wait wasn't really that bad, they had extremely comfortable chairs in the hall to sit in, and some servants even brought a laptop with _Goodfellas_ downloaded onto it that most of the guys were currently crowded around. Still, there was annoyance in their demeanors at being kept waiting so long, with more radiating from Cassie as she noticed the bubbly demeanor of the blonde maid along with her ruffled uniform and a couple of red marks on her neck.

"Thank you," she said regardless with a smile.

Kyle looked up from his sketchbook to see everyone heading into the room and followed. The Green Lantern took a moment to glance at the maid and her curves.

"Have you ever been sketched before?" he asked. "I'm looking for someone to model-"

Cassie came back to the doorway and yanked her comrade through.

Kid Flash whistled as he examined the room. "Nice place. Could probably do something about the color though."

The room could hardly be called so. It was more akin to an extravagant apartment, with enough space to fit maybe thirty people, with the balcony straight ahead able to hold more. The walls and drapes were colored orange and gold, same as the fire burning in a fire pit right in the middle of the room, six armchairs around it. Five shelves run across two walls, three filled with over three hundred books on the right and two with numerous DVDs on the right, a flat screen HDTV between the latter. A bed about ten feet long and thirteen feet wide was in the right corner, with the prince sitting on the far side with his back to the Team, fumbling with something on the nightstand.

"I am so sorry, my friends," he said in his Markovian accent. "I wasn't notified that you were coming until the last possible minute."

He got up from the bed, sporting a maroon bathrobe and holding a tray with six glasses and a bottle containing a clear liquid. He approached the group and set the tray down on a small circular table by one of the armchairs and poured the liquid into each glass.

"Let's start off with an apologetic drink and you can tell me what you need," he said, offering a glass to Kid Flash.

"Thanks," he said, accepting the glass. "I could use some water right now."

Blue Beetle and Green Lantern gave each other dubious glances.

"Uh Kid," Blue spoke up. "That's not-"

Too late. Bart took a sip and immediately started coughing.

"Ugh," he groaned.

Brion gave an amused chuckle. "I guess you never had vodka before."

"Not a lot of alcohol where I come from," Kid Flash said as he stopped coughing and wiped his mouth. "Plus I'm still underage in the States."

Brion raised an eyebrow at the former statement, but shrugged and picked up the bottle. "This was made in a small village in my country back during Soviet occupation. One of the few good things they gave us. Impeccable taste, definitely made to be savored."

Kid had an expression that betrayed skepticism, while Beast Boy perked up.

"Can I try some?"

"Are you sixteen?" the prince asked.

"I will be in November."

Brion started to hand the boy a glass, but Cassie immediately took it.

"Sorry Beast Boy," she said. "But Miss Martian would kill me if she found out I let you drink."

"Aw," Beast Boy moaned.

Brion sat in one of the chairs with a glass in hand. "I never got a chance to thank you for helping me earlier."

Blue Beetle looked confused. "But we failed. Queen Bee was killed before we could expose her."

Brion shrugged. "It's the thought that counts. Plus, your U.S. military and Justice League managed to find incriminating evidence in Bialya while quelling the uprisings and riots. Hopefully my father has learned by now to be more selective with the women he falls for."

"Speaking of the Justice League," Wondergirl started as she sat down as well. "That's kind of what we came here to talk about."

Brion looked at her in confusion. Then, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped as it dawned on him.

"You want me to join?" Brion asked incredulously. "The Justice League?"

"Actually, we wanted you to join our Team first and see where it goes," Wondergirl corrected kindly.

"Oh," Brion said, slightly dejected. He twirled his glass around in thought. "What's your team called?"

Wondergirl opened her mouth, then closed it again. She turned to her comrades. "Does our team have a name?"

Blue Beetle shrugged. "Everyone else just calls it the Team I guess."

"Is it too late to make up a name?" Kyle Rayner asked. "Like… um…"

"The Titans?" Beast Boy suggested.

"Young Justice?" Kid Flash asked. "The Outsiders? The Aven-"

"Anyway," Cassie cut off before they got more off track. "What do you say Your Highness?"

Brion raised a hand to his chin. He then reached out with it to one of the untouched pieces of charcoal in the fire and the team watched as it floated to the hand and twirled above his fingers.

"I never asked for these powers," he said softly. "They tortured me so I could get them. They said, it ran deep in my blood, and that they would get it through any means necessary. Every night, I was worried that I would never wake up in my own bed again, that I couldn't trust anyone. Her influence over my guards was just too powerful. My father wouldn't believe me when I told her the woman was a demon."

The coal fell into the prince's hand, which clasped around it. "I would like to just forget I have these abilities. I have a responsibility to my country, and I don't know if it would be wise for me to travel the world solving everyone else's problems at the expense of my land."

"It doesn't have to be every day," Beast Boy assured. "Just whenever we need you."

"You'd still have time to fool around with maids," Cassie joked.

Brion smirked. "You'd actually be surprised how little I'm able to do that. I always have to get up at dawn every day and pour my heart and soul into helping my country. Meeting with the advisors, going from village to village and listen to my people's needs. And most nights are some sort of feast or gala, rarely leaving me time for myself, much less a love life. So, I take what I can get."

The casual smirk faded and was replaced with an attempt at seriousness. "I'm afraid the needs of my country are more important to me right now."

Cassie shifted. "Are you sure we can't come up with a compromise? Even just the Markov name can be valuable to the Team."

Brion leaned back in the chair. He had a conflicted look about him, a look that betrayed the words that escaped his lips. Torn between the chance to help more people around the world, and the responsibilities he had as his nation's future king. Cassie noted that there was a deeper part of his look, a part that seemed to be of hope. Hope for what though?

He smiled. "You are an Amazon, correct?"

Cassie chuckled sheepishly. "An honorary one."

Brion nodded to the glass of vodka still in her hand. "Tell you what. Let's see who can hold their liquor more. If you win, I'll come along agreeing to any terms you give me. If I win, I… will still join your group,"

Cassie raised a brow.

"But, make my own terms. If it's a draw, then a friendly negotiation. Any way you look at it, you win. What do you say?"

Cassie looked down at her glass. Then, to everyone's surprise, she downed it in one gulp, no reaction what so ever other than a wipe of the mouth. She winked at the jaw dropped prince.

"Your turn."

* * *

 _Crunch!_

The goon crumpled to the ground as Nightwing delivered a kick to his face while jumping from a cargo container. The other mooks in front of the hero lifted up metal pipes, slipped on brass knuckles and proceeded to charge him. Nightwing responded merely by drawing his escrima sticks and making short work of all of them.

He looked up at the top of a container with a blowtorched hole in it to see Batman engaging Sportsmaster in combat. The latter seemed to be trying his best to avoid the Dark Knight, swinging a ball and chain at him. Batman merely dodged and tried to get in close to deliver some punches and kicks, but Sportsmaster dodged those in turn and kept walking back farther and farther.

Nightwing ran straight ahead through the shipyard, straight to the lone medium sized metallic box that was guarded by two men armed with uzis. They fired the guns, but Nightwing flicked his wrist and the guns fell out of the mooks' hands, a custom birdarang embedded in each. One kick to the head for each knocked them down, leaving the box unguarded.

"Package acquired," Nightwing told his mentor through the earpiece. "Area secured."

He looked up to see Batman in continued combat.

"This is actually a chance of a lifetime for me," Nightwing heard Crock laugh. "Whenever I did work for the League of Shadows, Ra's was always going on about the great "Detective", and how you're the only one worthy of succeeding him."

He swung the ball and chain once more, but this time when Batman rolled forward, the weapon got lodged into the container. After a couple of pulls with no results, Sportsmaster shrugged and merely pulled a revolver.

"Maybe if I brought you to him, the Light will let me back in," he mused.

But before anything else could happen, a boom tube opened up behind the mercenary. Sportsmaster must not have heard it, because he kept his sights on the bat. Nightwing saw a figure jump from the portal, a razor sharp sword clutched tightly in hand…

"Crock, look out!" Nightwing called.

 **SLICE!**

Dick didn't need to look to know what happened. He turned and listened as something toppled from the container and fell to the ground, with something heavier falling after it.

Nightwing spared a glance, spotting the body of Sportsmaster a few feet away, the head at his twitching feet, expression unreadable behind the mask. What were the man's final emotions? Shock? Fear? Anger? Did he think of the daughters he left behind, how he treated them?

The bird looked up to see a woman confronting his mentor. The most noticeable thing about her was that she was clad in a sized down version of Deathstroke's armor, except the mask didn't cover her chin and mouth, leaving light pink lips curled downward in a professional frown. She continued to grip her sword- a katana- against the Dark Knight, but made no move.

A sound came from behind Nightwing and the next thing he knew, he was locked in place by a hold with a sword was at his neck. Through the corner of his eye, he saw other men, clad in black with red masks, moving quickly to the box. He then heard the sound of another boom tube open.

"We're taking the cargo," the woman said in a rough voice. "If you move an inch to go down there, one word and my man will cut your friend's throat."

Nightwing struggled to see if he could flip his assailant over, but the captor just would not budge either because of genuine strength or mere discipline. He stopped when he felt the sword edge press deeper into his skin, not enough to draw blood, but dangerously close enough.

Batman glared at the woman. He then looked down at Nightwing, then looked back.

He nodded.

The woman waved a hand at her men, some carrying the box into the portal with the rest filing in after. The man holding Nightwing released him and ran quickly through the boom tube.

The gender swapped Deathstroke sheathed her sword alongside a twin one strapped to her back and flipped down from the container.

Nightwing growled and rushed the stranger, but she managed to flip over him and run quickly to the tube before it could close.

"My boss apologizes for not being here in person," she called out. "He really wants to see you two someday."

Nightwing turned and ran after the woman, but she jumped through the boom tube and it closed behind her.

"You could've called her bluff," Nightwing said as the Batman jumped down to join him. "We could have fought them off."

"I wasn't going to take the risk," Batman said. "We had no way of knowing whether they would have actually killed you or not."

"I can take care of myself," Nightwing protested. "You know that."

Batman looked down. "No point in lamenting what could have been."

Nightwing looked at where the boom tube once stood. "Sounds like Red Hood is a fan of ours. That gives us one clue at least."

"Not a very good one," Batman said. "But it confirms that he truly did originate in Gotham."

Nightwing nodded. A Gotham criminal identity, encountered in Gotham the night before the assassination, and an apparent interest in Gotham vigilantes.

" _At least there's one thing about this guy that's painfully obvious,"_ he thought.

"So what now?" he asked out loud.

Batman frowned deeply. "I was hoping to avoid this, but we have to make a trip to Arkham."

Nightwing frowned as well.

"Great," he muttered.

The ride to Arkham was dead silent, and so was checking in, and so was walking down the row of plexi glass cells to the interrogation room.

Nightwing looked into each cell with curiosity. He found Harvey Dent flipping his coin in one, looking distastefully at a food tray as if deciding whether to eat its contents or not. He found Victor Fries, watched him observe a snow globe of a ballerina through the frosted glass of the cell. He found Pamela Isley, flipping through a gardening catalogue and eyeing him with interest as he walked by.

Finally, they came to the end of the hall to the room, where a guard opened the door to let the former duo in. He shut the door behind them, leaving the heroes in a dimly lit room, with someone already sitting at the table.

Nightwing clenched a fist as he laid eyes upon the Clown Prince of Crime. He looked different every time they met, but at least he didn't still have the dreadful sideburns from seven years ago. The rest of his unnatural green hair was shorter around the neck but longer on the top, the bangs in a curl as if to mock Superman. His red eyes remained as hungry as ever, his ruby lips curled into that unnerving grin, his skin permanently bleached white. Thankfully, at least he was in a straightjacket.

Maybe not for him though. Batman was trembling with fury upon seeing his greatest enemy once more.

"I knew you would cave and come visit again eventually," the Joker teased. "You just wish you knew how to quit me, don't you?"

Batman remained silent. He merely motioned at his former apprentice, who pulled up a holographic screen.

"He goes by the Red Hood," Nightwing said. "Look familiar?"

Joker studied the screen, which was playing footage from Red Hood's video. "No, but that get up just sends so many uncomfortable signals. Where's the class? I personally would have stuck with the maître de slash opera look instead of S&M wannabe."

Joker laughed. "It seems like you heroes these days are finding more and more ridiculous ways to dress. And coming from me, that's saying something."

"We're not in the mood Joker," Nightwing glared. "You were the last Red Hood. Tell us if you know who could have succeeded you and-"

"Well look at you Bird Boy," Joker smirked. "Large and in charge, all graduated from pull ups."

Joker leaned back slightly in the chair. "You know, I never really liked you all that much to be honest. You were kind of the third wheel in me and Batsy's two man show. I kind of felt like bringing a kid along made me obligated to tone down my gags. That's no fun to go from an R rating to a hard PG now is it?"

Joker then leaned forward with a malicious glint in his eye. "That's why I liked the other kid better. He could stomach the black comedy. I didn't need to hold back with him, and the corpse should be proof enough of that."

Nightwing began shaking as well, while Batman gritted his teeth.

"I haven't seen Rule 63 in a while," Joker noted. "How's she doing? Better than the commissioner's paraplegic spawn I hope. She really is a knockout without those pesky clothes, the blood on her skin really adds to the erotic value. I kind of regret not doing a little more to her while she was lying there."

Nightwing felt his face contort in rage, felt every desire to jump across the table and rip out the clown's throat. If he opens his mouth one more time…

"And I still haven't met the new little birdie yet!" Joker said in a tone of mock disappointment. "Maybe to celebrate the anniversary of today, I should go out and visit him. Of course, I need a new crowbar and some plastic explosives, and you'd probably need to get a new boy toy each year, but-"

Batman beat him to it. He jumped across, grabbed the clown by the neck and pinned him to the wall.

"A little rough with the foreplay tonight," Joker choked. "Hope that means you'll go all the way."

Joker grinned. "Do it you pussy. I know you want to. You've kept it bottled up for far too long. Just let it out. Give up the façade of being the better man."

Batman tightened his grip around the clown's neck. His teeth were grit hard enough to grind to dust, his breathing quickened. It would only take a little more pressure…

But the Dark Knight regained his composure, and released the Joker's neck, letting him fall to the ground, gasping chuckles.

"Such a naughty tease," he breathed. "Anyway, I know jack and squat about this new Hood. You should know better than anyone that I don't let others do my jokes for me. But he seems to be proof of what I've been trying to tell you Batsy; all it takes is just one bad day aaaaannnnddd SNAP!"

The clown started to cackle and continued to do so even as the disgusted pair left the interrogation room.

As they walked back down the hall, Dick thought to himself. Did Red Hood really have a point? All the people occupying these cells were dangerous. Should they really be brought back here after already breaking out countless times? He thought about Tim and suddenly, a question he never considered popped up along with him.

Was he willing to kill for him if it came down to it?

" _It would definitely help me sleep easier knowing that Tim would be safer with less psychos running around,"_ one part of Dick reasoned.

" _Tim knew the risks when he became Robin,"_ the other part said. _"Besides, a life is a life no matter what. That's the first main thing Bruce taught you."_

" _Yeah, and that did a lot of good for Jason and Barbara didn't it? Where's the justice for them?"_

Dick remained silent as he got into the Batmobile's passenger seat.

"Are you alright?" Batman asked as he turned on the ignition.

Nightwing sighed. "Just conflicted."

Batman kept his gaze on the road. "I know how that feels. You want to hold on to your morality, but at the same time you think that holds you back from making a difference. I walk that line each night as I see this city corrode further and further."

He then looked at his son. "But Richard, you never had that problem. Even as a boy you proved to be more heroic than I ever could be. You're compassionate, kind hearted, and you wear the darkness instead of it wearing you. Those are your greatest strengths, and you should never lose sight of them."

Dick smiled, moved by what his mentor said.

"Thanks," he said as he looked out the window. "You're right."

It was then that he came to a decision. One that he had been trying to make for the past two years. He wasn't using these strengths to the fullest, and he knew of one way that he could.

"I think it's about time I rejoined the Team."

 **A/N: There we go! Nightwing's officially back! And just a heads up, I intend to post a new chapter once a month, so if you guys end up really liking this (I hope), then you can hold me to that and have every right to call me out when I fall behind along with any drop in quality.**

 **Leave a review and stay tuned for next time**


	3. Green Lantern's Light

**A/N: So sorry this took so long! College started back up again, I moved into my first apartment, and mostly this chapter was a bitch to write. I wanted to try my hand at world building, to try and develop other aspects of the Young Justice universe along with seeing if I can make a mostly standalone episode. So in case it's not obvious from the chapter title, I chose to show more of the Green Lanterns.**

 **(P.S., you may need to visit the Green Lantern wiki a few times)**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 _Qward_

Thaal Sinestro gave a cold smile as he looked down upon his disciples.

In one of the many gorges spread throughout the sundered, storm plagued world, a group of warriors from many planets brutally trained. Each sported a yellow and black bodysuit like their leader, and each were testing their newly bestowed yellow rings to their limits.

The savage and animalistic Karu-Sil unleashed projections of three wolves against the crustacean-like Bedovian, who merely shot them all without missing a beat. The Xudarian serial killer Romat-Ru cackled madly as he swung yellow energy blades at other dodging conscripts, and the newest recruit Amon Sur was holding himself perfectly against some of the older, more powerful members.

None of them held back against one another and each wanted to prove themselves worthy of being a part of the Sinestro Corps.

Sinestro turned to the reptilian, brutish Vornian beside him.

"Well Arkillo," he chuckled. "Do you think they're ready?"

Arkillo smirked. He licked his snout with a long, thin tongue. Dried blood went down from the pale scaly skin of his neck, and red eyes glinted with a lust for carnage.

"We are at your command sir," he growled hungrily.

"Good."

Sinestro turned from the gorge.

"It's about time I returned to Oa. I have several old colleagues I wish to see, a friend I need to return the favor to…"

His amused smirk turned to a glare.

"And an old score I must settle with my former student."

* * *

 _September 13_ _th_ _, 2018, Coast City 5:20 PM_

Kyle only had one thought as he flew into the wall of the city's gold reserve; who knew zombies could be that strong?

Sure, Solomon Grundy was a _huge_ zombie. And sure, he could swing a mean left hook with fists the size of a grade school student. But Kyle was hoping that he'd be slow, unsuspecting, and unable to land a hit.

His stomach was sending up its contents in protest of the naïve assumption.

"Grundy just wanted shinies," the ten foot behemoth growled. "Grundy crush green man!"

Kyle had to learn the hard way how much Grundy wanted the "shinies". He already made a mess of the vault they were currently in, having ripped off the door and yanking out complete shelves of gold bricks to pour into a massive crate the zombie could carry with one hand. Him slapping around the Green Lantern like a sandbag was not helping in reducing collateral damage.

"Uh, Geo Force?" Kyle called through his earpiece after swallowing the bile in his mouth. "Could use some help now."

The wall blew open next to him, and Brion Markov, now in a yellow and orange suit with an orange domino mask, stepped out. Breathing in heavily, Geo Force summoned a column of earth from below the vault's tiles and hurled it at Grundy, flinging him back through the vault door.

"What took you?" Kyle asked as the newest member of the Team helped him up.

"That zeta technology the League gave me is a little tricky," the prince admitted. "Especially in getting the right coordinates."

Grundy lifted the column up and threw it back at the two. Kyle managed to stop it barely with a beam of green energy. The beam faltered however, causing the column to drop.

"Damn," Kyle breathed as the ring flickered and stopped glowing. "Out of juice."

"My turn then."

Static hovered through the hole on his magnetized metal disc, shot a bolt of electricity to split the earth column, and proceeded to fire more at Grundy. Over the past two years he fashioned himself a costume of his own; a blue trench coat with a black bodysuit with yellow pads on the knees, with gloves and a lightning bolt emblem on his chest of the same color. To hide his identity, a white mask covered all of his face above his nose and a pair of translucent blue goggles propped up the bangs of his dark hair.

As Static continued to shoot bolts, the increasingly furious Grundy struggled against the lightning towards the attacker. Then, a yellow blur spun him around, dizzying him, while Wonder Girl tackled him to the ground, restraining him as Robin brought down his electrified bo upon the zombie's head, shocking him to unconsciousness.

"Robin to Watchtower," the Boy Wonder spoke into his comlink. "Solomon Grundy has been neutralized, ready to take back into custody."

" _Took ill on Thursday?"_ the other voice asked.

Robin smirked. "And will grow worse on Friday."

" _Great job Beta. Report back to the Watchtower as soon as Grundy's secure."_

"Will do," Robin nodded.

" _Nightwing, out."_

Robin couldn't help but smile. It was great to have Dick back on the Team, and great that he's able to see him a lot more often now. What's better is that tomorrow is when Barbara will come home from the hospital, and M'gann planned a welcome home party for her, with most of the members of the Team coming. He could hardly wait for all three of them to be reunited at last.

"Ugh," Kid Flash called out, wafting his nose. "Dead smell and burned smell is not a good combo."

Kyle looked around the damaged vault with Geo Force and Static behind him. "Neither is superhero and property it seems."

"Nothing an anonymous tip can't fix," Robin shrugged as he pulled up his holographic computer.

"Would this anonymous tip happen to be from a certain billionaire playboy?" Wonder Girl teased.

Robin smiled. "More like his 'world saving collateral damage fund'."

"Who…" Brion started to ask.

"You'll find out someday," Virgil said. "Identities don't remain very secret for long around us."

"We're all one big colorful family," Bart agreed.

The first thing Beta walked into after using the Zeta tube to the Watchtower was a disapproving Hal Jordan, aka the first human Green Lantern and the one that helped found the Justice League.

All of the young heroes noted that he was looking at their own Green Lantern.

"I think he wants to talk to you," Bart pointed out obviously.

Before he knew it, Kyle was left alone with one of his mentors and glaring at his fleeing comrades. He noticed immediately that Hal was holding his lantern.

"…So, I take it you heard everything on the com?" he asked.

"Uh huh."

"Especially the part where I said my ring was out of power?"

"You haven't used your ring much at all today," Hal noted. "So I'm wondering why it was still ran out."

Kyle scratched beneath his own green domino mask. "I… may have forgot to charge it last night."

"Kyle, you're supposed to always be vigilant about the status of your ring!" Hal said in an exasperated tone. "That kind of carelessness can get you killed!"

"Hey, I'm sorry Hal," Kyle apologized. "It won't happen again."

"What were you doing that made you forget anyway?"

Kyle wisely chose not to mention the series marathon he watched of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ until 5 AM and how he focused on little else other than reliving the relief he felt when Aang and Katara finally got together at the end.

"Just worrying about everyday stuff, getting my Art degree and such" he shrugged. "It was a mistake, that's all."

Hal sighed, holding out his lantern. Kyle somewhat hesitantly began charging his ring after quickly speaking the Oath.

"Look, I know you only had your ring for a few months and that this is all still really new for you. But being a Lantern isn't just a part time job. It's a universal responsibility. When the Guardians assign you a sector, you'll be protecting more than just Earth. An entire galaxy of sentient beings will look to you for protection and they need a Lantern that they can rely on."

Kyle looked down, whether from embarrassment or resentment, Hal couldn't tell. The older Green Lantern sighed once more. He never thought he had to be the hardass.

"I'm not asking you to be perfect," Hal smiled as he placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "We have Supes for that. Just stay vigilant and be able to focus on multiple things at once."

Right when Kyle's ring finished charging, both of their rings began glowing brightly. Kyle felt a telepathic message overload his brain, an experience he was unprepared for. He clutched his head as the message played out.

" _All active Green Lanterns return to Oa at once! We are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!"_

Once his head cleared, he noticed two more people coming in through the Zeta tube. It was the other two Green Lanterns of Earth: John Stewart and Guy Gardner. As the two approached them, Kyle noticed for the first time that his uniform had the least amount of green on it. Most of the torso was white with the Green Lantern insignia over the heart. The rest of the suit from the sleeves to the underarms to the legs were black minus some dark green gloves and boots.

A minor observation to be sure, but the young Lantern couldn't help but wonder if it meant something.

"Did you get that message too?" John asked urgently.

Hal nodded. "We need to go now. "

Kyle frowned as he followed the older Lanterns to the docking bay. What was happening on Oa that was bad enough to give him a psychic brain freeze?

"I have a bad feeling about this," the young Lantern muttered.

* * *

 _Knock Knock Knock!_

Roy opened the door and smiled.

"Artemis, hey!"

Artemis returned the smile to her brother in law. "Hey."

It was still a little odd to think about how Red Arrow, the clone that replaced Speedy for years and Cheshire, a top class assassin, were now living in the suburbs raising a child. Yet Artemis was glad to see that the hot tempered and brooding clone she knew was now a happy and caring father.

"Jade's playing with Lian in the backyard," Roy informed. "You want anything to drink?"

"I'm good, thanks," Artemis replied, stepping through the door and into the household. "How's everything going?

"Great, I got promoted recently at Ollie's company," Roy said. "Now I can make my own hours and help out Jade more around the house."

Artemis took a look around the living room. Children's toys were scattered everywhere along with a couple of story books and Disney DVDs. The sofa and chairs looked soft and inviting, and the fireplace looked ready to be lit for the coming cold nights. The house had a genuine atmosphere of a home, something that these two have painstakingly worked to obtain, something to be treasured.

Roy opened the sliding glass door leading to the backyard. There, a woman with dark hair and a grass stained pair of jeans and t-shirt was pushing a giggling little girl on a swing set connected to a wooden outdoor playset. The swing stopped right when the woman saw her sister.

"Aunt Artie!" Lian exclaimed happily. She got down from the swing and trotted toward Artemis. She caught the toddler in her arms and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh you've gotten so big!" Artemis said as she hefted her niece up. "I swear you get bigger every time I see you."

Lian was already beginning to look like her mother, but had a lighter shade of hair comparable to her father's at neck length. She was radiant as she looked up excitedly at her aunt.

"I'm big enough to use the potty!" Lian said jubilantly.

A light, yet distasteful odor reached Artemis' nostrils.

"Speaking of which," Artemis chuckled.

Roy took his daughter from his sister in law. "Ok Lian, let's see if that training paid off."

As the former hero took his daughter inside, Artemis was left alone with her sister. Their relationship was… complex doesn't begin to cover it. For most of Artemis' life, Jade operated as the assassin Cheshire, and clashed many different times with her sister and the Team. However, ever since Jade left the League of Shadows two years ago, the two sisters have been trying to mend their relationship, starting with monthly visits and occasional babysitting.

"So how's your job going?" Artemis asked.

Jade raised an eyebrow and smirked. " _That's_ what you want to ask?"

Artemis sighed. "No."

Jade nodded towards the patio table. "Why don't you take a seat."

Artemis did as her sister told and sat in a chair.

"I shouldn't have to ask whether you know about what happened to Dad," Artemis said.

"How could I not?" Jade said as she too sat down. "It's all over the news even now. More proof that the Red Hood means what he says."

"What can you tell me about him?" Artemis asked. "Red Hood."

Jade bit her lip. "Leave this one alone Artemis."

"So you do know something?"

"No. Leave it alone."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Worried that I'm gonna walk up to him and say…"

She imitated a bad Spanish accent.

" _Hello, my name is Artemis Crock. You killed my father. Prepare to die."_

"Oh please," Jade scoffed. "Lawrence isn't worth avenging. You know how terrible of a father he was."

Artemis slumped back in the chair. "I'm not going to deny that. I'm not going to deny that I hated that man and there were plenty of instances where I wanted to kill him- hell, nearly _did_ kill him- myself. But what happened to him was still murder, and Red Hood cannot use it as a peace tactic no matter how many passionate speeches he gives."

Jade stared at her sister. Then she sighed.

"Even if I wanted to tell you what I know, I can't. I made a vow when I left the League of Shadows that I leave its secrets at the door."

Artemis latched onto that statement. "So all you can really tell me is that Red Hood is one of the Shadows' secrets?"

Jade smirked. "More or less. The rest you have to figure out on your own."

Artemis chuckled. "That's why I associate with The World's Greatest Detective. So I don't have to figure it out on my own."

"You know, that Nightwing…" Jade started slyly.

Artemis' face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ew! I mean, I won't deny that he's extremely good looking, but he's like my little brother. It's too weird."

Jade shrugged. "Whatever you say. If I were you, I'd hit it."

Artemis laughed. This was nice, interacting with Jade like how actual sisters would. Sure, she would have liked it more if her dad actually grew a heart before he died and the whole family could come together, but she was content knowing that her sister could now be a part of her new family.

If only Wally could still be there.

* * *

 _September 13_ _th_ _, 2018, Oa_

The last time Kyle was on Oa, it was magnificent, etheral. The sky was always in a perpetual twilight, the orange and pink colors reflecting off of the crystalline structures making up the capital city. The Guardians' threshold was the largest of them, emitting a column of green light from the central power battery. A beacon of hope for Lanterns everywhere.

Hope that they needed desperately. The colorful skies were currently ravaged by the clashing of yellow and green beams, explosions, figures dropping and flying at each other at high speeds. A green barrier branching from the column of green light was encompassing the entire city, with an encampment right at the border between protected and unprotected area. This is where the four Lanterns of Earth ended up.

Kyle followed his seniors and looked around at all of the Lanterns rushing in and out of tents, tending to wounded, covering the dead with sheets, sharing batteries to anyone needing a charge. He's only ever seen a battlefield in artwork, movies. To actually be on one led to all sorts of feelings; disorientation at the rapid pace, fear inducing in that an unknown enemy can break through at any moment, burning fury at seeing his brothers and sisters in arms wounded or dead…

Displacement, as an artist among warriors.

"Kilowog!" Kyle heard Hal shout. "Kilowog!"

"Over here Jordan!"

The four turned to see a bulky Green Lantern with a square jaw, tough salmon skin and small round ears like a hippo approach them. Kyle remembered him as the Lantern who trained him in combat when he came to Oa the first time.

Hal gave a weary smile and grasped the giant hand of his old friend. "How're you holding up?"

Kilowog shrugged. "Barely."

Kilowog then shook John's hand. "Hey John."

"Good to see you Kilowog. Where's Katma?"

"She's in the center tent, looking over the maps," Kilowog said to a relieved John.

He then turned to Guy. "Hey, uhhh…"

Gardner gave a cocky smirk. "What, don't remember me? Guy Gardner?"

"Sure," Kilowog dismissed. "You're the Rayner kid. Right?"

"Uh, yes sir?" Kyle said uncertainly. Gardner immediately adapted an indignant expression.

Kilowog laughed, and gave Kyle a hit on the back. "No need to be so formal kid!"

"What's the situation?" Hal asked.

Kilowog's smile faded. "Worse than we could ever imagine. An entire corps wielding yellow power rings. We can only keep them away for so long and we already lost too many Lanterns."

"Yellow power rings?" John asked. "But the only person I know with one is-"

"Sinestro," Kilowog finished. "He's the one leading them."

Hal glared. "Where is he?"

"Jordan, you need to be brought up to speed-"

"Where is he?!" Hal repeated.

Kilowog sighed. "Our scouts report that he's encamped up north, but we need a strategy, you can't-"

Too late. Hal flew off through the city's shield and off into the distance.

"Wait, what?" Kyle said, confused. "Who's Sinestro? Why did Hal get pissed? Why-"

"Sinestro used to be a Green Lantern like us," John explained. "He was one of the best and was the one to train Hal when he first got his ring."

"But it turns out Sinestro was using the powers given by his ring to turn his home planet into a dictatorship," Kilowog continued. "Hal found out and blew the whistle on him, resulting in Sinestro being stripped of his ring and banished from Oa."

Kyle was shocked at hearing that. He looked down at his own power ring. He knew that power could corrupt, but the power given by the ring always felt benevolent, warm, not something that could be used for selfish gain but for creation and helping others. To know that it could be abused made him uncertain. Could something similar happen to him?

"Ok," Kyle nodded. "And you guys said something about our rings being tainted by a 'yellow anomaly' when I was first trained, right?"

"The power of our rings is drawn from willpower," Guy explained. "But it can be hindered by the yellow element of fear. When Sinestro showed up with a ring that harnessed the yellow element, the whole Corps crapped their pants."

"After a few encounters with Sinestro we discovered that it's possible to bypass this weakness by swallowing our fear and pressing on," John said. "So we managed to drive Sinestro back to Qward."

"But from the looks of it, he found a way to make more yellow rings," Kilowog said. "So I guess swallowing your fear would be easier said than done for most of the Lanterns."

Kyle gulped. "So uh… what are we going to do?"

"Katma's calling a meeting for just that," Kilowog said. "It's gonna start any minute."

"What about Jordan?" Gardner asked. "Shouldn't we go after him?"

"Yeah," Kyle agreed. "What if he gets into trouble?"

"We can look for him after the meeting," John said. "Right now we need to develop a strategy to drive these… Yellow Lanterns off Oa permanently."

"Hal can be reckless," Kilowog said. "But he can take care of himself. Now come on, we have a war we need to end."

Kilowog walked off to the central tent with the Earth Lanterns following. Kyle's concern for his mentor grew, walking absentmindedly.

Would he really be ok?

* * *

Right in his sights.

Hal crawled forward to the edge of the cliff overlooking Sinestro's camp. Yellow Lanterns were flying around it on patrol, making it impossible to sneak in by air. The only option he could think of was by good old fashion ground stealth.

Hal sighed. This was looking to be extremely unsuccessful by the second.

The Green Lantern climbed down the escarpment and made sure to stay in the darkness and to duck behind any available boulder if a yellow light came near, which was way too often. By the time he reached one of the tents, he had to kick himself to prevent him from sighing with relief. How did Batman and his kids make this look so easy?

Looking around the corner, he saw a group of Yellow Lanterns amassed at the center of the encampment.

"My comrades!" a voice boomed. "Our siege is wearing away the enemy. Soon, victory will be ours!"

As the Lanterns cheered, Hal snuck closer and hid behind another tent. Looking around it, he saw at the very front of the crowd was Sinestro himself, garbed in the same yellow as his men. Hal seethed at the sight of his former mentor, who betrayed everything the Corps stood for, who lied and deceived everyone that thought to be his friends, who has been a menace to the galaxy for years.

"The Green Lanterns have lost a great number of their ranks," Sinestro continued. "And once the pathway to the Capital is open, we will be able to pass through the barrier with our superior rings, and release our patron from his imprisonment!"

More cheers roared throughout the camp. Hal tilted his head in confusion.

Their patron? What was Sinestro talking about? Unless…

"Once Parallax is freed, fear will reign supreme, and everyone will cower at the Sinestro Corps!"

That gained a standing ovation.

Hal rolled his eyes. The enemy's vanity clearly knew no bounds. But that didn't matter. The situation was far direr than he thought.

" _I can challenge Sinestro later,"_ Hal thought. _"Right now I need to go back and warn the Guardians, increase protection for the Central Battery-"_

CLUNK!

Hal blacked out.

* * *

Kyle was filled with dread as he flew through the sky with John and Guy, remembering the plan discussed in the tent.

" _Our main priority is protecting the city and maintaining the Central Power Battery," Katma Tui addressed to the crowd of Green Lanterns._

 _Kyle had to admit Katma was attractive. Her red skin shone in the light, her slicked black hair giving her a serious vibe and her toned body filled out the suit very well._

 _He stopped oogling his fellow Green Lantern when he noticed John glaring at him._

" _However, we still don't know how large Sinestro's forces truly are, and past attempts to scout their camp have proved inconclusive."_

" _If that's the case, don't you think it would be a good idea to say, instead of scouting just blow up their whole camp?" Guy called out._

 _Katma raised a brow. "Are you volunteering for such a task Gardner?"_

 _Guy smirked. "Maybe I am sweetheart!"_

 _John punched Guy's shoulder while Katma ignored the comment._

" _That's actually not a bad idea," Katma mused._

 _She spoke louder. "Alright Lanterns, the majority of us will stay here but a small squad will be sent north to do what they can to sabotage Sinestro's war effort. Do we have any other volunteers?"_

 _A good nine other lanterns, Kyle and John included, raised their hands. Katma looked slightly worried when she saw John's hand, but then noticed something else._

" _Where's Hal Jordan?"_

" _He couldn't wait," Kilowog said._

 _Katma sighed. "Great. He probably needs rescuing now."_

 _Kyle swore he heard her mutter "Greatest Green Lantern my ass", but no one else seemed to have as well._

" _Alright," she said addressing the ten who volunteered. "Your mission is to cripple Sinestro's forces and apprehend or eliminate him, along with possibly rescuing Hal Jordan if his recklessness got him caught."_

 _Kyle smirked at his mentor being called reckless, but then realized what else Katma said._

" _Wait, eliminate?"_

He might have to actually kill people. Kyle gulped once more at that thought. Back on Earth, he never used his powers to kill anything. He assumed he would never have to, and from what he remembered from his training, Green Lanterns were pretty much space cops, mostly arresting and not having to kill.

Granted, this was war. But still, could he actually be able to do this?

Kyle looked behind at the other Lanterns with them. He only recognized a few. Kilowog of course, along with the beaked Tomar-Re, the one eyed Spol, and the hairy Arrkis Chummuck. The other three Lanterns were unknown to him.

"Hey John?" Kyle asked uncertainly. "You said you were in the military before getting your ring, right?"

John nodded. "Marine Corps. Fought in the Gulf War and did a couple of tours in Afghanistan."

"Did you ever kill anyone?"

John averted his eyes. "Yes."

"Is it hard?"

"It's definitely something I don't want to do again," John admitted. "But this is a dangerous enemy we're facing. As much as I would like, I don't think it would be possible to merely incapacitate all of Sinestro's forces."

John looked over at his comrade. "That's not going to stop me from ensuring the fewest casualties on both sides. Ultimately Kyle, it's up to you to decide how to handle the situation. But no matter what, I have your back."

"Same kid," Guy said. "I know I can be an ass sometimes-"

"A lot of the time," John muttered.

"-But us Lanterns gotta stick together."

The group of ten landed on the cliff overlooking Sinestro's camp. Tomar formed a pair of binoculars with his power ring and looked through them down below.

"I see a total of six patrolmen throughout the camp," he observed. "I can't tell how many more, or how many went off to battle."

"I say we go in guns blazing," Guy said.

"Normally I'd be for that," Kilowog said. "But we have no way of knowing if that's really all of them."

"We also need to confirm that Sinestro is on sight," Spol added.

"One of us could sneak in and then send a signal that the coast is clear," Tomar suggested.

"I'll do it," Kyle volunteered.

Everyone looked to the youngest Lantern.

"Are you sure?" John asked.

Kyle shrugged. "Yeah. I've played a lot of _Metal Gear Solid_ , I can do stealth stuff pretty well."

John pinched the bridge of his nose while Guy smirked and the other Lanterns looked confused.

"Is this _Metal Gear Solid_ a training module?" Arkkis asked.

John looked at Kyle, contemplating other options. But the young man looked desperate to prove himself, a rookie's glint in his eyes to show his comrades what he's made of.

"Call for help immediately if anything happens," John ordered.

Kyle smiled and nodded. He then headed to the edge of the cliff, slid down it, and glided swiftly towards the camp, stopping behind a boulder. He quickly looked around it and observed two guards patrolling two rows of tents. Pouring his will into his ring, Kyle formed a tranquilizer pistol, having to exert himself a little more than usual to make the tranquilizers genuinely work. He then aimed at a coming guard and fired.

THWIP!

The guard collapsed immediately, out cold for what Kyle hoped would be a few hours. The Green Lantern proceeded to sneak around the rest of the camp, looking through the tents and tranquilizing a few more patrolmen along the way. But Kyle knew this was too easy. There were nowhere near enough people here to maintain the camp effectively. Either Sinestro led most of his Lanterns off to battle or this was a trap.

The answer proved to be the latter when he found a tied up, civilian dressed Hal Jordan in one tent.

Hal looked up and immediately groaned. "You know this is a trap, right?"

"Duh," Kyle agreed as he moved forward to untie his mentor. "I guess they took your ring?"

"They knocked me out first, so I don't know whether the bastards just kept it or smashed it."

Kyle undid the last knot and brought Hal to his feet. "I'm sure you can get a new one."

Hal chuckled. "Yeah, but I'll be pretty useless from here on out."

The two exited the tent, and as soon as they started off the way Kyle came, an ear piercing sound filled the air and a patch of dirt exploded at Kyle's feet into a three inch crater.

"What the hell was that?!" Kyle shouted.

Hal's eyes widened. "Don't move."

At the center of Kyle's forehead was a yellow dot.

"What? What?!"

"Looks like there's a sniper nearby," Hal said.

"Oh God," Kyle panicked.

As if things couldn't get worse, a trio of growling and furious yellow wolves encircled the duo, followed by two Yellow Lanterns; one was an alien woman with a rather hideous grin stretching above her cheeks, no lips to conceal her teeth. The other was an alien man with a bald oval shaped head who looked extremely familiar to Hal, reminding him of the first Green Lantern he ever met.

"Abin Sur?" Hal asked disbelievingly.

The male Sinestro Corps member smirked. "You speak of my father. I am Amon Sur, the one who _should_ have been his successor."

Amon Sur lifted his left hand to show Hal's ring next to his own yellow ring.

"I took the liberty of reclaiming what's mine," he gloated. "And now, I will join my master and the rest of my brethren. I will enjoy tearing down the Battery, savor every last look of despair as I crush the life out of your fellow Green Lanterns. And then, when we continue our conquest of the universe, I will personally wipe your precious Earth from the stars. I-"

"Yeah yeah, 'then you'll finally have your revenge, blah blah blah'," Kyle interrupted. "What's stopping me from just taking you down right now with my own ring?"

"The fact that Bedovian will blow half of your miserable head off if you try," Amon Sur answered confidently.

Kyle gulped. "Oh…right."

Amon nodded towards his comrade. "Karu-Sil, be a dear and make sure these two don't leave the perimeter. And make sure Bedovian maintains a clear target."

Karu-Sil let loose a throaty sound of pleasure, her grin unmoving. "I want to kill them now."

"We need to draw out their fellow Lanterns first. Bedovian will make short work once that happens. Farewell, Hal Jordan."

Amon Sur flew off, leaving the two Lanterns of Earth surrounded by vicious projections and the savage Karu-Sil.

* * *

Tomar lowered his generated binoculars. "This is a problem."

"No shit," Gardner agreed. "We need to take out that sniper. But I don't see anyone out there."

"Obviously he's hidden," Spol said. "But is he using some sort of cloaking device?"

"I don't think so," John mused. "Just very well hidden…"

John looked through his own projected binoculars. He zoomed in on Kyle, taking note of the yellow dot on his head. It looked as if the angle of it came from southwest.

The Green Lantern then looked down at the ground beneath him. Maybe…

"Everyone take cover," he said before blasting the ground with a beam.

Immediately, a crab like figure burst from the face of the cliff and began firing in all directions from a yellow energy sniper rifle. The Green Lanterns flew off towards the camp to save their comrades while John stayed behind, generating his own rifle and creating distance between himself and the enemy.

Each of them fired and flew quickly from left to right to avoid getting hit. It was a dance, a dance of swift movement and fire that only two powered individuals could accomplish. Each opponent moved in and out, squeezing the trigger with concentration and breakneck fury, determined to mark the other before they get marked themselves.

However, Bedovian grew bored of this dance, and instead opted to charge his opponent at top speed. John expected this, and so he flew upward before the Sinestro Corps member could hit him and then flew back downward just as quickly, tackling him to the ground. Bedovian thrust a claw, grazing the Green Lantern's shoulder and knocking him sideways. Standing up, the Yellow Lantern staggered toward his prey and attempted to grab John's neck with his claw, but the latter rolled out the way and continued to do so as Bedovian pressed on. Finally, with a grunt, John grabbed Bedovian's claw as it attempted to strike, then proceeded to flip the enemy over, twisting the claw behind his back as he did so. The Green Lantern brought one chop down upon the Yellow Lantern and knocked him out instantly.

Out of breath, John lifted his unconscious enemy and flew him over to the camp, where his allies had just managed to subdue Karu-Sil. Tossing Bedovian aside, he walked over to where his fellow Lanterns from Earth stood.

"Good to see you're alright Hal," he nodded.

"Mostly alright," Hal corrected. "They took my ring."

"So I guess that makes me the greatest Green Lantern now," Guy joked.

"Where's Sinestro?" they heard Kilowog interrogate. "Where are the rest of your forces?"

Karu-Sil just laughed. "You're already too late fools. By now we have overrun your capital. All that's left is taking the Central Battery and releasing Parallax."

"Not unless Sinestro can break down our barrier," Tomar said.

"No," Karu-Sil smirked. "He's digging _underneath_ it."

Every Green Lantern froze. It became evident on their faces that none of them considered that possibility. It just seemed too obvious, no one would think to extend protection to below the ground. And that's what Sinestro counted on. He had his Corps carry out a siege to lower the Green Lantern's expectations, to keep them distracted.

"I don't know whether that's brilliant or disappointingly simple," Kyle said.

"Well the more obvious the solution, the more likely it'll be overlooked," Hal admitted. "We need to get back _now_."

The Green Lanterns proceeded to confiscate the yellow rings from their captives and construct a prison transport to keep them in. They then flew off as fast as they could with Kyle carrying Hal with him encased in the safety of a ring generated sphere.

All had fear in their hearts, begging that they could make it in time.

* * *

Everything was going according to plan.

Sinestro gave a triumphant smirk as he exited the projected drill, watched as his Corps ravaged the city. The Green Lanterns already there were giving their best effort, no doubt waiting for reinforcements, but his men overpowered them with ease. Sinestro floated towards the center of the city, where the Guardians of the Universe no doubt were along with his main goal; the Central Power Battery.

"Sinestro! You are under arrest for-"

Sinestro didn't even look as he fired a yellow beam through the heart of the foolish Green Lantern that thought to apprehend him.

The villain heard a swish in the air and looked to the side as one of his pupils, Amon Sur, flew up alongside him.

"I take it your assignment went well?"

Amon showed his master his ring hand. "Hal Jordan will not be a problem. Neither will the other Earth filth or Kilowog or Tomar-Re."

"A shame," Romat-Ru cackled as he flew to the other side of Sinestro. "I wanted to carve open his skull."

"You'll get an opportunity after we gain complete control of Oa," Sinestro assured.

More of the Sinestro Corps followed their namesake as the battle continued to rage. Once the group reached their target, Sinestro blasted down the massive doors of the spherical, metallic building with relish.

He found no surprise at being greeted by most of the Guardians.

"That's as far as you go Sinestro," the front one, Ganthet, said in a sagely voice enhanced by righteous fury. "You can't hope to overcome us."

Sinestro chuckled. "Such empty words. Thanks to your oversight of locking the god of fear in your own battery, you're precious willpower is powerless against us. Yes, there was a time when I thought it was enough to maintain order, but you helped me learn that fear will always be the dominant element. With Parallax giving me guidance, I will continue what I started on Korugar and do what you failed to; create a universe of balance!"

"Is it just a Yellow Lantern thing, or do you guys just not know how to shut up?"

Sinestro and his minons turned to see ten Green Lanterns led by Kyle Rayner and an propelled Hal Jordan, fly through the doorway. Kyle slammed into Amon Sur and forcefully removed Hal's ring from the finger.

"Always be vigilant about your ring," Kyle said, jokingly smug.

Hal smirked as he took back what was his. He then slipped it on, and his suit returned, embodied in green light.

"Lanterns, CHARGE!"

The Lanterns all flew forward, engaging different Sinestro Corps members in combat; Kilowog fought Arkillo, Tomar-Re fought Romat-Ru, John and Guy teamed up against Amon Sur, and of course, Hal fought Sinestro.

Kyle was indiscriminate in choosing his opponent, as most of them went down easily. Was he afraid? Most definitely. But he took John's words from earlier to heart; swallow it and keep pressing forward.

The Guardians got in on the fighting too. As more Yellow Lanterns flooded the building, the little old blue men trounced them with their combined power. Other Green Lanterns flew in from outside as well, and before anyone knew it, the entire foyer was engulfed in battle.

As Kyle plowed through enemies, he heard a distinct scream. He turned to see Hal clutching his leg and Sinestro gliding off deeper into the complex.

Kyle rushed to his mentor, who only waved him away.

"Don't bother with me," he grunted frantically. "Stop Sinestro!"

Kyle nodded and flew off after the Korugaran. Once Sinestro saw that he was being followed, he began firing yellow beams back from his ring. Kyle responded by creating small X-Wing fighters from his ring and sending them after Sinestro. The projections fired at Sinestro, irritating him immensely. Enough that he didn't pay enough attention where he was flying and crashed into a door.

"Yes!" Kyle exclaimed, pumping his fist.

Unfortunately, it was the door leading to the core of the Central Power Battery.

"No!" Kyle exclaimed just as quickly.

Rubbing his head, Sinestro ran into the room and along the catwalk until he stopped right in front of the battery.

"Sinestro!" Kyle called.

Sinestro responded by creating a yellow cord and completely restraining the young Lantern with it. Smirking with satisfaction as he watched the young man squirm, he refocused his attention to the construct in front of him. He then began charging up his ring as he recited an oath:

" _In Blackest Day, In Brightest Night,_

 _Beware your fears made into light._

 _Let those who try to stop what's right,_

 _Burn like his power- Sinestro's might!"_

BOOM!

A massive, smoldering hole exposed swirling green energy within the battery. Then, all of a sudden, a long, spidery yellow hand clutched one side of the hole. It pulled up a much bigger monstrosity out onto the catwalk.

Parallax definitely deserved its title of fear incarnate; its body was insectoid but the exoskeleton was continuously melting. Its face was multi eyed and elongated, possessing a wide mouth that could eat even the biggest of creatures whole. Its voice was raspier than beyond all reason, but low and ominous as it spoke.

"Free at last," it said.

Sinestro lowered himself to one knee. "I have returned to release you from your prison as promised.

"Thhhhaaannk you Thaal Sinestro," Parallax hissed.

The entity then took notice of the restrained Kyle Rayner.

"I see that you also brought me a host," Parallax mused. "Yeeesss, he looks crippled with fear. I would enjoy making it fester through him."

The being crawled closer to Kyle, lowering himself to look into his prey's eyes.

Kyle was shaking. He couldn't tell if it was the creature's aura or if he was genuinely terrified. All he knew was that he failed. Parallax escaped and now fear will rule supreme.

" _No,"_ he suddenly thought. _"I am a Green Lantern, a protector of the galaxy. I will not give in to fear. This thing is just one giant bug that needs to be squashed."_

"Tell me Green Lantern," Parallax hissed. "How terrified are you?"

It was then Kyle began laughing. Both Sinestro and Parallax looked at the young man with confusion.

"I'm not terrified," Kyle said. "I'm just pissed off."

A flash of green severed the ropes around him while another was fired at Sinestro. He screamed as his severed ring hand fell onto the catwalk, clutching the cauterized yet still inflamed stump as he crumpled to the ground and his yellow and black suit disappeared in exchange for a black one with blue around the neck and chest.

Parallax screeched and advanced onto the Green Lantern, but Kyle created a truck to slam the creature back. It only did so slightly, and Parallax readied itself to attack.

That's when Kyle began charging up his own ring.

" _In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,_

 _No evil shall escape my sight._

 _Let those who worship evil's might,_

 _Beware my power- GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"_

From Kyle's ring came a blast much stronger than Sinestro's, one that engulfed the entire room. The energy from the green power ring was amplified tenfold by the giant power battery with the recital of the Oath. Parallax screamed as the energy burned away at it. Its attempts to swipe at the Lantern failed, the entity disappeared in a blinding flash of green and yellow light.

Once the light cleared, there was nothing left but Kyle, the sobbing Sinestro, and the damaged Central Power Battery.

" _Don't think you've won Lantern,"_ a voice in the wind whispered. _"You may have destroyed my corporeal form, but I, like the essence of time, last forever. Your own mortality may rob me of vengeance, but when I do reform, I will exert my wrath tenfold on your descendants!"_

Kyle shuddered as he felt the presence leave.

"Might not have descendants then," Kyle muttered.

He sat down to catch up with some much needed rest right as his fellow Green Lanterns came and found him.

* * *

 _September 15_ _th_ _, 2018 Gotham City 3:32 PM_

"You didn't have to drive me here you know."

Dick smiled as Barbara wheeled alongside him down the floor of her apartment.

"I wanted to," he assured. "Any excuse to see you out of the hospital."

Barbara looked down as she moved her wheelchair. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"I'll be with you every step of the way if you need me," Dick said.

Barbara chuckled. "No, I mean I took the stairs so much I think I forgot how to work an elevator."

"I swear I told you to pay attention," Dick joked.

Both of them laughed.

"Seriously though," Dick continued. "You ever need me, whisper my name and I'll follow you anywhere."

"Isn't that the line Jason used to pick up- Donna!"

Sure enough, their former teammate was walking down from the opposite end of the hall, clutching flowers and what looked to be a rather large gift basket.

"Babs, Dick!" Donna said excitedly. "Long time no see!"

Donna Troy changed little since the two last saw her. Sure, she looked a lot more womanly now, but she still retained her long black hair and her spirited personality.

Luckily for Dick, Donna wasn't one of his many ex-girlfriends. Barbara tends to have a habit of making fun of Dick's serial dater status and would definitely give a knowing smirk if that were the case.

"So what brings you here?" Barbara asked.

"I heard you got out of the hospital today and-"Donna cut herself off and looked knowingly at Dick.

Barbara raised a brow as she shuffled for her apartment key in her purse.

"By the way," Dick coughed. "You might want to get new locks."

"Why? What's wrong with the ones I ha-"

"SURPRISE!"

Barbara's jaw dropped as everyone, or at least nearly everyone, on the Team crowded her apartment. Mal and Karen, Gar and Megan, Bart and Jaime, Kaldur and Conner, everyone was smiling, waiting for her reaction.

Barbara laughed. "You guys! You went to all this trouble?"

"Sure we did," Artemis said.

"It was Megan's idea," Gar said proudly while Megan looked sheepish.

"Welcome home Babs," Tim said, arm around Cassie.

"Yes. Welcome home Babs."

Barbara wheeled around to face outside the doorway to see her father along with Bullock and Montoya, each smiling as happily as everyone inside.

"Daddy!" Barbara exclaimed. "Harvey, Renee! You guys came too?"

"I hope you guys have room for one more guest," said a voice.

Everyone turned to look down the hall. Dick and Barbara shared a shocked glance, Donna looked starstruck, and Commissioner Gordon reached out to shake the man's hand.

"Glad you came," Jim said. "Barbara, you remember Mr. Wayne right?"

Barbara couldn't stop her eyes from watering up while Dick gave a dorky grin and Tim stuck his head out of the entryway to see if his ears deceived him, grinning excitedly when he saw they didn't.

"Of course," Barbara whispered.

Bruce smiled. A genuine smile.

This was the happiest Barbara had been in a long time.

* * *

Back on Oa, another celebration was taking place, in the form of a ceremony.

The entire Green Lantern Corps was lined up in rows at the base of Headquarters.

Sinestro and his surviving forces were deprived of their rings and incarcerated in the deep reaches of space.

Kyle stood in front of the Guardians alongside the ten other Lanterns who changed the tide. Once Ganthet gave Hal a medal, he approached Kyle.

"Kyle Rayner," he said. "We are deeply impressed with your ability and resolve. For defeating Parallax and purging our rings of the yellow anomaly, we hereby promote you to Green Lanern Honor Guard, should you choose to accept it."

Kyle's jaw dropped. Hal, John and Guy gave their comrade congratulatory glances. Honor Guard was the highest rank any Green Lantern can receive short of becoming a Guardian themselves. They wouldn't be assigned to a sector, but Oa itself. And since Oa technically existed everywhere at once, Kyle could still be close to Earth.

However…

"I am honored you would consider me sir," Kyle breathed. "But I don't think I'm ready for that. To go from rookie to Honor Guard in such a short time, I don't think I could perform that job effectively without more experience."

Ganthet looked back to the other Guardians, then faced Kyle once more.

"If that is your desire, then so it shall be," he said. "You shall be assigned to Sector 2814."

The Green Lantern Corps cheered, while Hal patted Kyle on the shoulder.

"That's our sector too," Hal whispered. "Looks like we'll be working together a little while longer."

Kyle grinned. Ganthet leaned in and whispered in Kyle's ear.

"Just remember the position will be open whenever you feel ready."

Kyle nodded as Ganthet winked. The celebrated Lanterns turned to face their brethren.

All that was missing was the Throne Room theme from _A New Hope_.

 **Done! Hope you guys liked it! And for those missing the Red Hood, he will return next month along with the debut a certain hot tempered anti-hero whose last name is Harper…**

 **Review and let me know what you think**


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